The More The Merrier: Suite Life 2010 Collection
by Snapplelinz
Summary: Once again, the Suite Life writers have come together to bring you a range of heart-warming and hilarious stories guaranteed to get you into the spirit of the holiday season. So get ready to read, write and review! See Ch 1 for more details.
1. Intro Chapter

_**A/N: Greetings, fellow Suite Life authors and readers! I present to you 'The More The Merrier: 2010'. I hereby declare this holiday collection officially open!**_

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**Intro Chapter**

**By Snapplelinz (yours truly)...  
**

Zack was strolling along the Sky Deck aboard the S.S. Tipton, in search of the ever-coveted 3pm ice-cream served at the buffet table when he came across an interesting sight. Lounging in a comfy recliner in the centre of the deck was London Tipton, the rich hotel heiress and one of his oldest friends. This in itself was not surprising in the least, since London spent much of her time on the Sky Deck, painting her nails and texting her rich friends on her cellphone. But this time, she was doing neither activity, but writing feverishly on a piece of paper with a richly decorated gold pen.

"Hey, London. Whatcha doin'?" Zack asked curiously, coming to stand next to London's deck chair.

"Writing." London replied simply.

"_Writing what?_" Zack pressed in a sing-song voice.

"A Christmas story," London answered resolutely.

"You, London Tipton, hotel heiress, most fashionable and trendiest teen on the planet, is writing a Christmas story?" Zack queried in awe.

"Co-rrect. I'm writing about everything that happened last Christmas." London explained seriously.

"Sweet, let's see what ya got." Zack suggested enthusiastically, peering over London's shoulder to see what she had written so far.

After scanning the contents for several seconds, Zack furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"London, this is all about you."

"Co-rrect."

"But, London. Stuff didn't just happen to you last Christmas." Zack stated patiently.

"True. But the stuff that happened to other people last Christmas was way more boring than anything that happened to me. And let's face it, no one wants to read a Christmas story that isn't about me." London responded matter-of-factly.

"Ok. Then I should probably tell you that there's no 'g' in 'Christmas'." Zack pointed out dryly.

"Of course there is. It's a silent 'g'." London replied helpfully, to which Zack rolled his eyes.

Just then, Cody and Woody came strolling along the Sky Deck, deep in conversation. They spotted Zack and London and made a beeline for them.

"Hey, guys. What goes on?" Zack inquired casually of his twin brother and friend.

"Woody and I just convinced Mr. Moseby to let us decorate the Sky Deck with Christmas lights and stuff this year. We came up here to measure the overall circumference of the space." Cody answered succinctly.

"Fun." Zack quipped sarcastically.

"What are you guys doing?" Woody questioned curiously.

"London's writing about what happened last Christmas." Zack explained slowly.

"Cool. Did you remember to put in the bit when I was sitting in the dining room and one of my toe nails flew up in the air and into the Christmas trifle after I clipped it?" Woody asked eagerly.

"Ew! Why would I write about something as disgusting as that?" London demanded in horror.

"Because it happened last Christmas." Woody answered in a whiny voice.

"Trust me when I say this, Woody. Nobody's gonna wanna hear about that." Zack replied in a chiding tone.

"I wanna hear all about it. I had three helpings of the Christmas trifle last year!" Cody fumed unexpectedly, causing Woody, London and Zack to start laughing uncontrollably.

Bailey, Addison, Maya and Marcus happened to be sauntering past when they overheard the laughter of their friends. Curious, they sidled over towards them.

"Hey, guys. Whatcha laughing about?" Bailey inquired casually.

"Oh, just laughing about how Cody spent his Christmas last year…puking into a barf bag!" London exclaimed while cackling unashamedly.

"And what did you do last year, London? Throw out last year's jewellery overboard?" Cody shot back knowingly.

"As a matter of fact, I did. Santa didn't bring me any jewellery to match with my purple Arturo Vertalli boots." London pouted.

"London, you do realise that Santa doesn't really exist, right?" Bailey asked slowly.

"Don't bother, Bailey. London also thinks that 'Christmas' is spelt with a silent 'g' in it." Zack retorted dryly.

"Darn, I've been spelling it wrong this entire time." Addison quipped in disappointment, much to everyone's surprise.

"Ignoring that, I wasn't on board the S.S. Tipton a year ago. So what did I miss? I bet you guys had some crazy times together." Marcus joined in eagerly.

"Oh yeah, the wildest. Yeah, not really. Moseby kept blocking with every fun thing we tried to do last year." Zack answered woefully.

"Well then, the answer's simple. We have to distract Moseby with a new woman in his life or a new set of vintage handkerchiefs. Problem solved." London pointed out emphatically.

"I'm not really in the mood for a big Christmas dinner or party. I'm cool with watching some football this Thanksgiving." Maya stated nonchalantly.

"I'm gonna watch the parade this year. Someone from Kettlepod almost always drops a flaming baton while walking through Times Square. What a bunch of losers, unlike the cool people over in Kettlecorn." Bailey announced smugly.

London stared incredulously at Bailey, her perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised sceptically at this pronouncement.

"Guys, you're disturbing my fabulous Christmas writing here," London whined amidst everyone's chatter.

"You know what would be a great idea? If we got to write stories about what we'd all like to happen this holiday season." Bailey noted pensively.

"Or better yet, get someone else to write Christmas stories about us and we don't lift a finger at all." Marcus joined in.

"Now you're speaking my language, bro. I could see it now: me somewhere in New York City on New Year's Eve, maybe Times Square…with a beautiful babe on my arm. And she'd have magic powers too." Zack mused wistfully.

"In your dreams, Zack. What girl would waste their magic powers on spending New Year's Eve with you?" Cody scoffed openly.

"It could happen!"

"It would be cool to write about having an awesome Christmas party on deck where we all got to dress up and win a big contest. And I could organise the whole thing." Addison ventured eagerly.

"I could picture you wearing a huge candy cane costume," Maya joked lightly.

"Ooh, what about a story where Zack wraps Cody up as a Christmas present to give to London and where Bailey and I fall madly in love!" Woody exclaimed enthusiastically with his fists high in the air.

He stopped immediately when he realised that everyone was staring at in surprise.

"Too much imagination?" he asked abashedly.

"Just a smidge," Bailey replied knowingly.

"Wait, would Cody be wrapped up in $100 bills? 'Cause then I wouldn't mind getting him as a Christmas present." London added thoughtfully.

"Anyway…I think it might be nice to have someone write a really heart-felt Christmas story. Like something for all the soldiers currently in the Middle East who won't be home for Christmas. Or the unlikeliest people coming together to celebrate the holidays." Maya noted brightly.

"Yeah, like Arwin and Ilsa Shickelgrubermeiger-Von Helsing der Keppelugerhofer." Zack chortled loudly.

"Schika-whatta?" Marcus questioned dumbly.

"Ooh, and somebody could spike the eggnog, or Zack could destroy a Christmas turkey." Woody joked amidst his laughter.

"Hey, that was one time, Woody! That's why I don't help with the food on Christmas day." Zack pointed out defensively.

"Somehow I think that there's a better chance of Cody and Bailey getting stuck in a broom closet together during the holiday season than Zack destroying a turkey for a second time." Addison remarked slyly.

Both Cody and Bailey turned red in the face at this.

"Addison, the only holiday that would ever happen on is April Fools." Bailey teased dryly.

"Exactly. And I have plans that day anyway, so…" Cody trailed in what he hoped was a dignified air.

"Maybe there'll be some romance in the air this year." Addison suggested hopefully.

"Moseby could use a good romance. And a good hairdo," London noted matter-of-factly.

"And Ms. Tutweiller might be lonely during the holidays; maybe she could find somebody to spend the holidays with. And then there's Connie too." Bailey added seriously.

"Maybe Ms. Tutweiller and Connie could get together!" Addison exclaimed while clapping her hands excitedly.

"Sure. There's a match made in heaven." Zack snorted callously.

"All of this stuff sounds so traditional. It would be cool if somebody wrote about something out of 'Chaos Demons', my favourite comic book series in the whole world wide. Tales about adventure, brave warriors and mermaids!" Woody declared exuberantly, much to everyone's confusion.

"Guys, don't you think these ideas sound a little far-fetched?" Maya asked wonderingly of the group.

The group shuffled awkwardly at this question while looking elsewhere except at each other.

"You're right, Maya. Let's leave this to the professionals." Cody concluded soberly.

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_**A/N: This was just an indirect round-up of some of the best stories that 'The More The Merrier 2009' had to offer, along with some of the best Suite Life authors. I will be your host this year for the T-rated version and The Hurricane 13 will be hosting the M-rated version of the series this year. **_

_**The rules of this year's holiday collection are pretty straightforward:**_

_**1) You can write about any theme and any holiday celebrated between the months of November through to January.**_

_**2) Each story submitted this year must be a oneshot. There is no limit on word length. If you have multiple parts to your fic, you can create a page break at the end of each part in your oneshot to indicate that there is a new part to the story. **_

_**3) If you have any queries about the collection or stories you wish to submit, you can send them to me, The Hurricane 13 or Lodylodylody. Just be sure to set up a docx connection with either one of us when it comes to submitting stories.**_

_**4) Most importantly, have fun and let your creative spirit run free! **_

_**Let's work together to make this year's holiday collection better than ever. I will let you all know when both collections officially end as soon as I know more. Whatever you're celebrating this year, happy holidays, everyone!**_


	2. James Doyle I

**The Way We Weren't**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Thanksgiving break arrived, and the Martin twins made their way to Boston to celebrate Thanksgiving with their mother, Carey, in her diminutive one-bedroom apartment, together with their dad, and Zack's new girlfriend Maya. Cody allowed Zack to take his leave to show Maya all of the old hangouts around Boston.

While the happy couple explored, Cody decided to pay a visit to the Tipton. Even though his mother was no longer employed there after taking that ill-fated Japanese commercial gig, he nonetheless wished to visit a few old friends among the staff. As he approached the basement workshop of one friend in particular, he discovered that Arwin already had company.

"What's the neutrino absorption reading?" asked Arwin's similarly middle-aged friend with considerably more hair.

"780," Arwin replied matter-of-factly.

"Power levels are holding," reported his friend. "Exotic matter inhibitor is nominal. Okay, I think we might be ready to give this a try."

"Give what a try?" interjected Cody.

"Oh, hey Cody," greeted Arwin. "Cody, this is my friend Rodney. We went to science camp together when we were kids."

"Pleasure," Cody greeted simply shaking his hand.

"You can call me Dr. McKay," replied Rodney.

"You can, too," added Arwin. "He's got like five Ph. D.'s."

"Well, I don't like to brag," said Rodney with smug grin.

"Since when?" argued Arwin.

"Alright, enough of that," interjected Cody. "What are guys working on?"

"You remember my Parallel Universalizer?" prompted Arwin.

"The P.U.?" recalled Cody. "I remember it didn't work."

"That's because it didn't have a reliable power source," explained Arwin. "Rodney, however, was kind enough to supply a naquidah power cell."

"What's that?" asked Cody, intrigued.

"That's classified," deflected Rodney. "Actually, I could get in big trouble just being here."

"Don't worry," assured Cody. "Your secret is safe."

"So how do you two know each other?" asked Rodney.

"Oh, yes, where are my manners?" answered Arwin. "Cody and his brother used to live here when their mom worked here as a lounge singer. By the way, how does your mom like her new job?"

"The jewelry counter at Smarty-Mart?" Cody asked rhetorically. "She hates it, but it pays the bills."

Arwin nodded. "I'm glad to know she landed on her feet."

"Could we save the reunion for later and get this test underway?" interrupted Rodney. "I have a red-eye to catch so I can be in Chippewa Falls by morning."

"He's having Thanksgiving with his girlfriend and her father," informed Arwin. "He's planning to pop the question."

"Arwin!" scolded Rodney. "You were supposed to keep that a secret!"

"My bad," Arwin apologized sheepishly.

"Again, my lips are sealed," assured Cody.

"Very good," approved Rodney. "Let's not waste any more time."

With that, the three of them simultaneously made a dash for the phone booth.

"You think you're coming along, kid?" grunted Rodney, supremely uncomfortable crammed into a phone booth with two other grown men.

"Heck yeah!" answered Cody.

"Not a chance," declared Rodney. "We agreed that I'd be the one to go."

"I agreed to no such thing!" protested Arwin. "It's my invention; I should go."

"Which you couldn't get working without my help," argued Rodney. "Besides, there's no telling what's waiting on the other side."

"Guys," interjected Cody, trying to force the door shut. "We can all go."

"Impossible," argued Rodney. "There's only enough power to-"

Before Rodney could finish his sentence, the struggle to reopen the door and expel Cody caused him to accidentally actuate a control lever, which caused the environment around them to glow bright white for a moment. When the glow subsided, they found themselves in Arwin's workshop, which looked more or less the way they'd left it.

"Oh," Arwin remarked disappointedly. "I guess it didn't work."

"Let's hope not," added Rodney.

"Why do you say that?" asked Cody as he extracted himself from between the two men.

"The power cell I provided isn't actually powerful enough for this sort of application," explained Rodney. "And the system wasn't designed to transport three people. It'll take at least two days for the capacitor to recharge."

"Great," said Cody. "Here's hoping nothing happened."

That hope would be dashed in short order, however, as Cody heard an oddly familiar voice calling from the service elevator.

"Honey?" called the voice. "Are you down here?"

"Who is that?" asked Rodney.

"That's Connie, the activities director aboard the _S.S. Tipton_," informed Cody.

"What's she doing here?" asked Arwin.

"How the hell should I know?" answered Cody.

"Sweetie?" Connie called once again as she entered the workshop. "Oh, there you are. Didn't you hear me calling?"

The woman Cody saw was definitely Connie. And yet, something was different about her. She wore her red hair much longer, and she wore a green Tipton senior staff jacket. But perhaps most jarring of all was her smile: For once, it didn't look fake. She seemed genuinely happy. Cody surmised this had everything to do with the modest-yet-elegant engagement ring upon her finger.

"Oh, Cody, how nice to see you," greeted Connie. "And I don't believe I've met your other friend."

"Dr. Rodney McKay," greeted Rodney, shaking Connie's hand.

"Please to meet you," replied Connie. "I'm Connie, Arwin's fiancée."

"Fiancée," echoed Arwin as he began to feel light-headed. "I need to sit down."

"Aw, it's so sweet that I still have that effect on you," beamed Connie. "He fainted the first time we kissed, you know."

"I believe it," acknowledged Cody, just as stunned as Arwin.

"So how, exactly, did the two of you meet?" asked Rodney, taking advantage of his status as an outsider to try and get his bearings.

"Oh, I love telling this story!" beamed Connie. "I was working aboard the Tipton cruise ship, and I'd just gotten over a bad breakup, when Arwin came aboard to work on one of Mr. Tipton's special projects. He saw how sad I was, so he built a dancing teddy bear to cheer me up. It didn't work exactly right, but it was the most thoughtful thing a man had ever done for me. We got to know each other a bit during his time aboard. By then, we'd fallen in love, so I put in for a transfer to Boston. He proposed last Christmas, and here we are!"

"Touching story," said Rodney, trying to feign some enthusiasm despite never having been much of a romantic.

"Anyway," continued Connie. "I just wanted to give you the news that Mr. Moseby has managed to clear his schedule, and he and his wife will be able to attend the big dinner."

"Big dinner?" reacted Arwin. "What big dinner?"

"Why, Mr. Tipton's Thanksgiving dinner, of course!" Connie replied playfully, taking a seat in his lap and playing with what little hair he had. "You silly goose."

"That's great news," Arwin said awkwardly. "Well...honey...I have some work to finish up here, so I'll see you tonight."

Connie gave Arwin a quick peck on the lips, then made her exit.

"Don't be late," said Connie, smiling seductively as she took her leave.

"Okay, I'd say the PU definitely worked," observed Arwin.

"How can you be sure?" asked Rodney.

"Moseby's not married, Mr. Tipton never has time to have Thanksgiving dinner with anyone, and Connie's not dating anyone right now, least of all Arwin," elaborated Cody.

"Gee, thanks," Arwin reacted indignantly.

"Okay," Rodney said uneasily. "This isn't so bad. Near as I can tell, Connie's not a Goa'uld, and the planet has been overrun by Replicators."

"Huh?" Cody and Arwin replied in unison.

"Never mind that," continued Rodney. "The point is, this reality isn't so different from ours that we can't cope. All we have to do is lay low for a couple of days, wait for the capacitor to recharge, and head back to our own timeline."

"So how do we do that?" asked Cody. "Obviously we can't just hide out down here. People would miss us."

"Right," affirmed Rodney. "So what we need to do is figure out what roles we play in this universe, and try our best to blend in. Which reminds me: I'd better call the SGC and find out what's going on."

Rodney spent the next half hour or so making phone calls, then returned his attention to his two reluctant traveling companions.

"Good news," reported Rodney. "I'm still scheduled to be in Chippewa Falls for Thanksgiving."

"Does that mean you're just gonna leave us?" asked Cody.

"No, of course not," replied Rodney. "It means that whatever diverged in this universe didn't affect me. My people are used to dealing with this sort of thing, so once I explained the situation, they agreed that I should stay here and help you two sort this out."

"Not that it has any bearing on our current situation," inquired Cody, "But what happened to our counterparts in this universe?"

"Arwin's design is slightly different than others I've worked with," explained Rodney. "Near as I can tell, we've switched places with our counterparts. Hopefully, this universe's McKay has figured out what's going on, and has the situation under control."

"Let's hope so," said Cody.

Just then, yet another familiar voice came calling.

"Cody?" called Zack, Cody's twin brother. "Dude, you down here?"

"Uh...yeah," Cody called back. "Was just helping Arwin with something."

"Dude, what are you doing down here?" demanded Zack as he entered the workshop. "You're supposed to go to the train station with me."

"Oh," replied Cody, "Right, sorry. I got a little preoccupied here."

"Not a problem," assured Zack. "We've got plenty of time. Oh, hey Arwin. Who's your friend?"

"This is Dr. Rodney McKay," introduced Arwin. "Old friend of mine from science camp."

"Pleasure," greeted Zack, shaking Rodney's hand. "Well, if yous'll excuse us, we've got a train to meet up with."

"Never a preposition end a sentence with," corrected Cody as they walked off.

"Oh, like you don't do it!" argued Zack.

"Interesting relationship those two have," observed Rodney.

Arwin rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."

The two brothers waited in the lobby of Boston's historic South Station, just outside the door to the platform where the Acela Express train from New York was pulling in. Bring up the rear of the line of exiting passengers was a familiar face, a petite brunette girl, clad in a maroon overcoat with a matching hat.

"Maya!" cried Zack, running up to the young woman, picking her up and twirling her around as they embraced, then setting her down for a brief kiss.

"I'm so glad you could make it," beamed Zack.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," replied Maya.

"Oh," continued Zack, regaining his grasp on reality. "You'll meet the rest of my family later, but this is my brother, Cody."

"So nice to meet you finally," said Maya, who ignored Cody's offer of a handshake to draw him in for a hug.

"Likewise," replied Cody, unable to process the notion of being introduced for the first time to a girl he'd met months ago.

"Zack's told me so much about you," continued Maya as she accepted the boys' offer to each carry one of her bags.

"Well, hopefully I can set the record straight," replied Cody, eliciting a laugh from both Maya and Zack.

"It was awfully generous of you to prevail on London to buy me a train ticket," thanked Maya. "I don't know how Zack endures those Megabus trips."

"Megabus trips?" asked Cody.

"What's gotten into you, bro?" asked Zack.

"Nothing," denied Cody. "I'm just a little foggy today, is all."

"Well, you must be," agreed Zack, "If you don't remember what I've been doing almost every weekend for the past six months."

"It's amazing," added Maya. "Between Megabus and my friend Zeke letting Zack stay over, we've actually been able to make this work."

"So you still live in New York," surmised Cody.

"Of course I do," confirmed Maya. "Born and raised. I can't imagine anything that would make me want to leave."

"I'm hoping she'll change her mind once she's seen Boston," added Zack.

"Perhaps," teased Maya. "But you'll never make a Red Sox fan out of me."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Zack teased back.

As Cody observed Zack and Maya leaning upon each other as they sat across from him on the train, he made a mental note to inquire discreetly as to how they met in this timeline. For the moment, he had one major question weighing on his mind.

"So Zack," asked Cody. "Remind me again what happened to Seven Seas High."

"Mr. Tipton's sea school?" Zack asked incredulously.

Cody nodded.

"Dude, you remember," informed Zack. "It never got off the drawing board. It was basically just a scheme to get London to be a better student and learn a little humility."

"Somehow, I doubt that would've worked," noted Cody.

"Probably not," agreed Zack. "Anyway, Tipton canceled the whole thing after you managed to convince London to take some summer school classes."

"I convinced London?" Cody asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know, right?" responded Zack. "I didn't think anybody could convince that girl to do anything she didn't want to do. But for you, I reckon she'd eat out of a dumpster."

The conversation raised a host of new questions in Cody's mind. He decided not to pose any of them to Zack at the moment, however, lest he raise suspicion. They arrived at the Tipton shortly thereafter, at which point the boys helped Maya get settled into her room in the suite where a number of out-of-town guests would be staying.

"This is nice," complimented Maya, who then began eyeballing her boyfriend mischievously. "It's a shame I have to share a room, though."

"Oh, I think I could arrange for us to have a little privacy," Zack replied with an equal amount of naughtiness in his voice.

"Speaking of privacy," interjected Cody. "Perhaps I should leave you two alone."

"Actually, yeah," remembered Zack. "You'd better get up to London's suite. She wanted to discuss some of the dinner plans with you."

"Right," agreed Cody as he took his leave. "Catch you guys later. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Zack scoffed. "What fun would that be?"

Cody stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 25th floor, only to find that it refused to actuate. Observing the key-card slot beside the button panel, Cody swiped his key-card and pressed the button again. It obey his command this time and took him to the 25th floor. When the door opened, he found himself in the midst of a true penthouse suite, much more spacious than the London suite he'd previously known (if that could be imagined).

"You're here!" cried the opulently-dressed young Asian woman as she charged toward Cody and through her arms around him.

"Yeah," Cody replied awkwardly. "You said you wanted to discuss some dinner plans."

"Oh, don't be silly!" responded London. "I just wanted to get you out of bellhop duty so we could spend some time together."

"Um, okay," reacted Cody. "Cool."

"Cody, are you feeling okay?" asked London, her tone becoming more somber.

"Yeah, I'm fine," deflected Cody. "Just a little bit of brain fog today."

London grinned. "I know how to cut through that."

Before Cody could object, London seized him by the cheekbones and crashed her lips into his. Startled as he was, Cody found himself powerless to resist the warm, soft kiss of the raven-haired beauty in his arms. He took control of the kiss, gently playing with her lips, savoring the occasion waft of hot breath escaping from between them. Just as they broke apart, a deep, resounding voice interrupted.

"Just what do you think you're doing to my daughter?" demanded Wilfred Tipton, a man Cody recognized only by his voice, having never seen his face.

"Mr. Tipton, sir!" reacted Cody, dropping to his knees. "I'm sorry. I got carried away. Please don't have me sent to Siberia!"

With that, Tipton let out a deep belly laugh.

"Daddy!" protested London. "You promised me you wouldn't do that anymore!"

"I'm sorry, pumpkin," apologized Tipton, still laughing. "It's just so much fun busting this guy's chops."

"You're not mad?" asked Cody, slowly rising to his feet.

"Why should I be mad?" answered Tipton. "After all, you and London have been dating for the better part of three years. I do wish you'd be more discreet, however."

"Yes, sir," agreed Cody. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"Good show," approved Tipton.

"So I hear Mr. Moseby will be joining us for Thanksgiving," noted Cody, eager to change the subject.

"Yes, indeed," acknowledged Tipton. "It's delightful that he was able to clear his schedule. Sometimes I wonder if he knew what he was getting into when I handed the reigns over to him."

"I'm sure he's doing fine," assured Cody.

"That he is," confirmed Tipton. "Things have never been better for Tipton Industries. Anyway, I must be off. I'm late for a tennis match; I just dropped by to pick up my racket."

"Knock 'em dead, Daddy," encouraged London.

"You can count on it, pumpkin," replied Tipton as he took his leave.

"Since when does he have time for a tennis match?" puzzled Cody.

"Wow, you must be really out of it today," marveled London. "Daddy retired almost two years ago. He's got more time than he knows what to do with."

"So he could spend more time with you, right?" checked Cody.

"Yeah, of course," confirmed London, who drew him back in for another kiss. "Now, where were we?"

A few hours later, Cody returned to Arwin's workshop, where Rodney and Arwin had just finished donning their coats and ties.

"Hey guys," greeted Cody. "What's up?"

"Oh we were just..." Rodney began, trailing off upon seeing Cody's unkempt hair and wrinkled clothes. "Dude, did you just-?"

"Not quite," supplied Cody, well aware of where Rodney was going with this. "Pretty darn close, but not quite."

"So I guess this means you're seeing someone," observed Arwin.

"Yeah, evidently I'm dating London Tipton," revealed Cody.

"London Tipton?" reacted Rodney with a chuckle. "Oh man, talk about falling into a pile of crap and coming up smelling like a rose!"

"It's a little disconcerting," stated Cody.

"What, don't you like her?" asked Rodney.

"Well, yeah," admitted Cody. "I mean, she's my friend and all. But I've never really thought of her that way."

"Never?" Arwin asked incredulously.

"Okay, okay," admitted Cody. "There were a few weeks when I produced her web show that we became pretty close. But that pretty much went down the pipe when she threw me off the project."

"Well, it would seem that didn't happen in this timeline," observed Rodney. "In fact, that's probably the point of divergence."

"That's not the only weird thing," continued Cody. "Apparently, Zack and Maya still managed to hook up."

Arwin swooned. "I guess it's just meant to be."

"Oh, please!" retorted Cody and Rodney in unison.

"Well, it sure looks like from where I'm standing," insisted Arwin.

"Any scenario with a non-zero probability of occurring will occur in at least one universe," elaborated Cody.

"He's right," added Rodney. "I'm sure there's a universe out there somewhere where Hannah Montana plays lead guitar for Iron Weasel."

"I can't believe you're not happy for your brother," rebuked Arwin.

"I didn't say that," defended Cody. "Maya's the best thing that ever happened to Zack. In any universe where it's probable for them to meet, it's also probable they'd end up together."

Arwin smirked. "So you're saying they're meant to be?"

Cody chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Rodney scoffed. "Unbelievable."

That evening, London joined her stepmother Brandi for dinner and an evening of shopping while her father had dinner with his tennis partner. Likewise, Arwin convinced Connie to let Rodney be their third wheel (unbeknown to her, so that he could gather intel on this alternate timeline). As such, Cody had to fend for himself for dinner.

Instinctively, he headed for his family's old suite on the 23rd floor. When he arrived, however, he found a team of maids cleaning the place, with no trace of any of the Martins' belongings. Next he though to look at his ID card, but realized it would do him no good, as it had come with him from his own timeline.

Finally, Cody decided to head for the front desk. There, he found Esteban Ramirez, who had apparently taken up the mantle of general manager at the Tipton.

"Hey, Esteban," greeted Cody.

"Oh, hello Cody," replied Esteban. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Well," fabricated Cody. "I'm updating my resume, and I was wondering if I could have a look at my application so I could double-check some of the dates."

"Yes, of course," agreed Esteban, who ducked into the file room for a few minutes before returning with Cody's employee file. "Here you are."

Cody scanned the application, which showed his father's apartment to be his place of residence.

"Yep, everything's in order," declared Cody. "Thanks, Esteban."

«De nada» replied Esteban. "Have a good evening."

Cody arrived at the apartment about thirty minutes later, hoping that his father kept still kept a spare key in the planter. As luck would have it, he did, and Cody let himself in. Once inside, he heard some faint, strange sounds. As he neared the master bedroom, he could clearly identify the sounds as a man and a woman in the throes of pleasure.

Cody shook his head. _That's my dad_, he thought to himself. The next set of sounds hit him like an east wind.

"Oh, Kurt," moaned an all-too-familiar voice. "Yes, right there."

_No, _Cody denied inwardly, _It can't be!_

"Oh, Carey," moaned her partner, dispelling Cody's disbelief.

Cody made his way back into the living room so as to hear as little as possible of the goings-on in the bedroom. As he took a seat on the couch, he began to wonder how his parents' lives had played out in this timeline. Had they gotten back together? Had they never divorced? Or were they simply having a fling for old times' sake (as he'd suspected them of doing on occasion)?

While he waited, Cody microwaved himself a serving of leftover casserole (which looked like something he'd made) that he'd found in the fridge. Just as he'd finished eating, the bedroom door opened.

"I'm getting something to drink, honey," announced Carey. "Do you want anything?"

"No, thanks," Kurt yelled back. "I'm good."

As Carey wandered into the kitchen in her robe, she found herself startled by the sight of her son.

"Cody!" cried Carey. "I thought you were tagging along with Arwin and Connie tonight."

"Arwin's old friend Rodney is in town," explained Cody, "So I let him take my place."

"So nice to see him cultivating a social life," praised Carey.

"Yeah, it's great," agreed Cody. "So Mom, stupid question: Shouldn't you be at work right now?"

Carey laughed. "Don't be silly, honey! The club's closed for the holiday."

"The club?" echoed Cody.

"Yes, the nightclub your father and I started," elaborated Carey. "Cody, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm just a little foggy today," answered Cody.

"Obviously," agreed Carey. "That being the case, I should let you get some rest, so you can be in top form for the big dinner tomorrow."

"Yeah, I think I will," accepted Cody, stopping to give his mother a hug. "Thanks, Mom."

"It's what I'm here for," responded Carey.

As Cody lay in bed, London occupied his thoughts. Her kisses, her warm embrace, and her words of affection from that afternoon hearkened back to a brief time when he'd hoped against hope that something would develop between him and London. During that time, he'd been given a rare glimpse beneath her flightiness and narcissism, to see the warm, caring, and lonely young woman she truly was. Now, it would seem, that person had risen to the surface. Obviously, however, she was no longer lonely, as she now had her father, her stepmother, and of course Cody himself, at her side.

As he basked in these thoughts, however, images of another woman in his life found their way into the front of his mind: Bailey. As much as he resented her, he couldn't deny the fact that he had, and in fact, still did, truly love her. Naturally, he began to wonder what had become of her in this alternate universe; what opportunities she had availed herself of in a world where Seven Seas High didn't exist.

_Ten o'clock_, observed Cody. _Not too late to call her._

Cody had no idea whether he and Bailey had been acquainted in this timeline. In the event that they had not, he quickly fabricated a justification for calling her. Hoping her cell number was still the same, he dialed.

"Hello?" answered the familiar raspy voice.

"May I speak to Bailey Pickett?" Cody requested redundantly.

"This is she," answered Bailey. "Who is this?"

Cody sighed. The fact that she didn't recognize his voice seemed to indicate that she didn't know him.

"Hello?" prompted Bailey.

Cody immediately recalled a story Bailey had told him about an indie rock festival Moose had gone to see. Since Moose had only told Bailey one of the bands that were playing, Cody could easily fill in the gaps.

"Um, yeah," continued Cody. "I actually met your friend Moose at one of my dad's gigs. We recently reconnected on Facebook, and he thought perhaps you and I would be a good match, and that I should give you a call."

Cody realized belatedly that this sounded more than a little creepy. Thankfully, Bailey didn't seem to think so.

"That's very sweet of him, but I have a boyfriend," revealed Bailey.

"You do?" asked Cody.

"Yeah," reiterated Bailey. "His name's Woody."

"Woody Fink!" reacted Cody.

"That's right," confirmed Bailey. "How'd you know?"

"I remembered seeing his name somewhere on the Internet," lied Cody.

"You probably saw his name on the website for the at-risk youth program," informed Bailey. "That's actually where we met."

"Really?" marveled Cody.

"Yeah, it was the strangest thing," elaborated Bailey. "I really wanted to attend the Seven Seas High program, but they canceled it before enrollment even started. So I moved in with my aunt in Cleveland. It's not seeing the world from a cruise ship, but at least it got me out of Kettlecorn. Anyway, once I got here, I started looking for volunteer opportunities, and I found this program working with at-risk youth in low-income neighborhoods. Around the same time, Woody signed up, and that's when we met."

"And he swept you off your feet," guessed Cody.

"Actually," corrected Bailey. "He kind of repulsed me at first. But since he was into me, he started working on his hygiene and his people skills. Once I got to know him a bit, and saw what a heart he had for the kids, I just couldn't help myself."

"That sounds wonderful," approved Cody.

"Oh, it is," affirmed Bailey. "Gosh, I can't believe I'm telling you all of this."

"I can't, either," agreed Cody.

"I guess there's just something about your voice that tells me you're a straight-shooter," theorized Bailey.

"Maybe," granted Cody. "But I wouldn't rely on that too much."

"Anyway," concluded Bailey. "I really need to be getting to bed."

"Yeah, me too," replied Cody. "It was nice talk to you."

"You too," reciprocated Bailey. "Be sure and thank Moose for me."

"I will," said Cody. "Good night."

"Good night."

As Cody hung up the phone, he hoped he hadn't gotten his counterpart into too much trouble. Still, he was glad to have made the call. He cherished the assurance that the Bailey of this universe was safe, happy, and prosperous in the arms of someone he trusted and respected.

Alas, his satisfaction proved short-lived, as melancholy washed over Cody once more. His imagination came alive with thoughts of what might have been. He began to think he should have ditched the Six Month Plan and taken the time to get to know Bailey as a friend. Perhaps she'd have ended up with someone else, but at least he'd have been better able to encourage and support her the way he knew he should have. Perhaps they'd have built the trust that had been so lacking in their relationship. And perhaps, if indeed Bailey had ended up with someone else, perhaps he too would have found someone better suited to him.

This, of course, brought his thoughts back to London. Besides being the most spectacularly beautiful woman he'd ever met, she also embodied many qualities that, while Cody himself didn't possess much of them, he'd always admired them greatly in London. Her love of life, her energy, her sense of fun. He even admired her lack of tact. Though she often offended people, in many cases, she alone had the guts to tell things like they were like no one else could.

Though some people might think him crazy for saying such things out loud, Cody couldn't help but notice that in her own way, London exhibited extraordinary intelligence. The sideways logic with which her brain processed the world often proved invaluable in solving problems that caused conventional reason to fall upon its face.

Cody then began to wonder if perhaps his relationship with London in this timeline had been more than just a glitch in the space-time continuum. He started to entertain the notion that he just might truly love her. With such weighty matters on his mind, Cody decided he wasn't going to get any sleep.

Deciding he needed some fresh air to clear his mind, Cody donned his coat and headed up to the roof. Upon arrival, he found his brother Zack, sitting on the wall with his feet dangling over the edge. Normally, Cody would've scolded Zack about how dangerous that was. However, in this instance, something hearkened back to their carefree youth, and Cody decided instead to join him.

"Hey, dork," greeted Zack.

Cody chuckled. "Hey, dumbass."

"Thought you'd be in bed by now," noted Zack.

"I was," informed Cody. "I couldn't sleep."

"Something on your mind?" asked Zack.

"A lot of things are on my mind," answered Cody.

"Well, help yourself to a cold one, and let's talk about it," offered Zack, pointing to the six-pack situated between them.

"I really shouldn't," Cody initially declined.

"What are you, a Mormon?" taunted Zack. "One beer's not gonna kill ya."

Cody nodded, and cracked open a brewsky, taking a sip before speaking his piece.

"I guess I just haven't been myself lately," began Cody.

"Now that you mention it, you have seemed a little off lately," noted Zack. "Any idea why?"

"Zack," began Cody. "Have you ever wondered if you really belong in this life?"

"Whoa, bro!" cautioned Zack. "Maybe we should step away from the edge, here!"

"Relax," assured Cody, "I'm not gonna hurt myself. What I mean is, do you ever feel like the life you're living isn't the way things are supposed to be?"

"Not really," answered Zack. "All things considered, I'm pretty happy with the way my life turned out."

"Don't you ever wonder what it would've been like if Seven Seas High had panned out?" clarified Cody.

"Sometimes," admitted Zack. "Sail the seven seas, see the world, experience foreign cultures...hit on beautiful, exotic babes."

Cody chuckled. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about."

"Yeah," granted Zack, "But none of that matters now that I'm dating the most beautiful woman on the eastern seaboard."

"Second-most beautiful," corrected Cody, referring, of course, to his London.

"As far as I'm concerned, she's the most beautiful," insisted Zack. "Look, my point is, things worked out for the best for everyone I care about. When you get down to brass tacks, I've got all the excitement and romance I need right here in Boston."

"With frequent trips to New York," added Cody.

"Even better," agreed Zack.

Cody had to admit that Zack made a lot of good points. The boys sat silent for a few minutes before Cody spoke up again.

"Do you love her?" asked Cody.

"Maya?" asked Zack.

"No, Agnes," Cody snarked. "Yes, Maya."

"Yes," confessed Zack. "Yes, absolutely, I love her. With every fiber of my being. I'm sure this sounds crazy coming from me, but I want to marry her. I've never felt this way about anyone."

"Not even Maddie?" asked Cody.

"Maddie will always be special to me," answered Zack. "But she's off at Annapolis doing the military thing, and I'm happy for her. If I'd been honest with myself, I'd have realized nothing would ever happen between us. But none of that matters. Nobody I ever laid eyes on before matters now that I have Maya. She's the one, Cody. I just know it."

"Remind me again how you guys met," requested Cody.

"Dude, you've heard the story a million times," noted Zack with a chuckle.

"I know," admitted Cody, "But I like hearing it."

"Since when?"

"Humor me?" requested Cody.

"Alrighty," relented Zack. "You won a couples of tickets from a radio contest to see the Sox play the Yankees in New York. Since the parental units weren't going to let us go by ourselves, and there were only two tickets, only one of us could go. Since you had to help London with a school project anyway, you decided this would be a good chance for me and Dad to get some male-bonding time.

"The Yankees definitely had the homefield advantage, since the Sox were pitching nothing but base-hits that day. I wasn't making me and Dad very popular yelling out obscenities against the Yanks, so Dad suggested I go take a walk and chill out. I decided to go to the concession stand to get some nachos."

"And that's when I saw her," swooned Zack. "A brown-eyed angel, sitting by herself, watching on the TV monitor as her Yankees creamed the Red Sox. For the first time in my life, I found myself at a loss for something to say. So I decided to go for broke: I commented on how her precious Yankees wouldn't have been able to get a hit in edgewise if our pitching hadn't been so lousy.

"She was, of course, more than happy to admit that our pitching sucked, and furthermore commented on how the Yanks had the best sluggers in the league. So naturally, I had to get in a comment about how New York treats the rest of the league like their farm team."

"Yeah, yeah," goaded Cody. "Get to the romantic part."

"I beg your pardon," Zack retorted. "Maya and I both happen to think baseball is very romantic. But since you clearly don't agree, I'll skip ahead. Before we knew it, the Sox had managed to score five runs in the ninth, and clinch the game by a single run. We probably would've kept it up all night if Dad hadn't come looking for me. When she saw the score, she accused me jinxing the Yankees by distracting her. I told her I'd make it up to her some time, and I asked for her phone number. To my great surprise, she gave it to me.

"Dad couldn't help but be impressed with my prowess, so he helped convince Mom to let me go back to New York by myself to see Maya. And with that, my womanizing days were over. I saw her face, and I never looked back."

"That's awesome," praised Cody. "Though I remember it a little differently."

"Dude, you weren't there," noted Zack.

"What I mean is," backpedal Cody, "I've been thinking about what it would've been like if Seven Seas High had worked out for us. And by some bizarre twist of fate, you and Maya still end up together."

"Sweet," approved Zack. "And you and London?"

"I guess that's what's bugging me," admitted Cody. "I don't think London and I would've ended up together in that universe. I see myself dating another girl, which is a failure on the order of the Hindenburg, and London retreating into her own world, becoming more selfish and bitter with each passing day. In the end, we're both miserable."

"So what's bothering you is that you can actually conceive of a life without London?" surmised Zack.

"That's about the size of it, yeah," confirmed Cody.

"Well, bro," counseled Zack, "I think you answered your own dilemma there."

"What are you talking about?" asked Cody.

"Dude, you yourself said that you and she would both be miserable," recounted Zack. "Of course you can picture your life without her. That's just being realistic. But you seem to realize that that life, no matter how fun and adventurous it is, just isn't worthwhile without London."

"So I've been having doubts," concluded Cody, "But I'm just now realizing that I shouldn't be."

"Yep, you got it," confirmed Zack.

"What a relief," rejoiced Cody. "Thanks, Zack."

"I do what I can," accepted Zack. "You gonna finish that beer?"

"Heck yeah, I am," declared Cody, taking the brewsky and chugging it down, after which he let out a belch that could be heard clear across town.

Zack laughed raucously. "Good one, bro!"

The next morning, the rest of the Martins slept in while Cody prepared breakfast. The first to awake was Kurt, who joined Cody in the kitchen immediately following his morning tinkle.

"Morning, son," greeted Kurt.

"Hey, Dad," replied Cody. "Thought you'd still be asleep."

"How can I sleep with all this good smells wafting into my room?" complimented Kurt, putting an arm around his son.

"Thanks, dad," accepted Cody. "So...you and Mom seem closer than ever."

Kurt grunted sheepishly. "Oh, I guess you heard what we were up to last night."

"Well, I tried not to," replied Cody.

At that point, Cody decided to risk putting his foot in his mouth in order to find out what exactly was going on between his parents.

"But yeah," he added, "It's what married people do."

"Yes, sir," agreed Kurt. "Coming up on our second anniversary: take two. I'm pretty excited."

"Me, too," said Cody.

After a moment of silence, Cody dared to venture the other question weighing on his mind.

"Dad," asked Cody. "Now that you and Mom are back together, do you ever think splitting up was a mistake?"

"Sometimes," granted Kurt after a moment's contemplation. "Cody, the truth is, I still had a lot of growing up to do, and your mother needed to figure out who she really was. As much as it hurt being away from her, we really needed our time apart."

"In any event," declared Cody, "I'm glad you're here now."

"Are you kidding?" responded Kurt. "I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"Me?" asked Cody.

"Well, you and Zack," elaborated Kurt. "If you hadn't come up with the idea for the club, and convinced Mr. Tipton to spot us the startup capital, your mother and I never would've thought to go into business together. And I don't see how else we could've rekindled the old flame."

"Well, in the case," responded Cody, "I'm glad we could help."

"Hey, it's what families do," noted Kurt.

A short time later, the remainder of the Martin clan arose. London arrived just as breakfast was served.

"You know," commented London, "I've been eating gourmet food my entire life, and I still can't find anything that compares to Cody's blueberry pancakes."

"I don't think you ever will," agreed Kurt, speaking with his mouth full. "The man's an artist."

"Hey, I made the bacon," noted Carey, who couldn't help feeling a little undervalued.

"Well, Carey, you definitely win points in my book for that," complimented London. "I love me some bacon."

"So Zack," asked Cody. "Where's Maya this morning?"

"Oh, she's having breakfast with Arwin and Rodney," informed Zack.

"That seems a little odd," noted Carey.

"Yeah," agreed Zack, "Apparently, Rodney's been trying to get to know everybody. I guess he's just a really friendly guy."

"It was really sweet of you to rustle up a dinner invite for him," thanked Cody.

"Oh, not a problem," responded London. "We've got plenty of food."

As they were clearing the table, London took notice of the time.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "We need to get going, or we'll miss Moseby's flight."

"You go on ahead," granted Kurt. "We'll clean up."

With that, London summoned her limousine, and she and the twins made their to way the tarmac of a small airfield just outside of town, where a Tipton corporate jet had just opened the hatch. The first passenger to exit was the always elegantly-dressed African-American gentleman Marion Moseby.

"Moseby," cried London, who ran up to greet her old friend with a hug.

"London," replied Moseby with a warm smile. "So wonderful to see you."

"Hey, Mr. Moseby," greeted Zack.

"Boys," greeted Moseby. "I trust you've been keeping out of trouble."

"Um, yeah," lied Zack. "Sure."

"Marion," interrupted a familiar voice from inside the plane. "I can't seem to find my makeup bag."

"It's alright, dear," Moseby called back."The valets took care of it."

"Yeah, I really wish they wouldn't do that," complained the woman as she emerged from the hatch, revealing herself to be a stunning redhead who'd long-since shed any trace of the mousy appearance Cody remembered.

"Miss Tutweiller?" Cody greeted incredulously.

"Not since your sophomore year," replied Emma.

"That would be 'Mrs. Moseby' to you," admonished Moseby.

"Well, shall we?" declared London, ushering the lot of them into the limo.

As they rode back to the Tipton, Cody couldn't help but notice that, as elegant as Emma looked, she had started to bulge slightly in the midsection.

"Cody," admonished Moseby. "It's impolite to stare."

"Oh, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud," Emma interceded playfully. "In case you're wondering, yes, I'm expecting."

"Wow," reacted Zack. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," accepted Emma. "This late in life, I didn't think it was going to happen. It really is a blessing."

"It certainly is," agreed Moseby, gently squeezing his wife's hand.

"So how's life down in Dallas?" asked Zack.

Moseby growled. "Insufferably hot during the summer. Though I do relish not having to deal with snow this time of year."

"I still can't believe you two are married," marveled Cody.

"I should think after two years, you'd be used to it," puzzled Moseby.

"I think what he means," ventured Zack. "Is that we really miss you over at Cheevers."

"It was really nice of Mr. Tipton to get me that job after the Seven Seas High deal fell through," noted Emma. "But once Marion and I hit it off, I realized I could teach anywhere. What I really wanted was to be with him."

With that, Moseby leaned over and kissed his bride.

"Ugh," London whispered to Cody. "Old people in love."

"Tell me about it," agreed Cody.

After helping Moseby and Emma get settled in, Cody headed down to the workshop, where he found Rodney tinkering with the P.U.

"Hey," greeted Cody.

"Oh, hi," replied Rodney, looking up briefly before returning his attention to his work.

"I thought we still had another day or two to go," said Cody.

"We do," confirmed Rodney. "I was just calibrating the nav system to make sure we get back to the right timeline. Last thing we need is to end up stranded someplace worse."

"Like a reality where the South won the Civil War and they sell slaves on the Internet," suggested Cody.

"Exactly," affirmed Rodney.

"So what'd you learn from Maya this morning?" asked Cody.

"Not a whole hell of a lot," reported Rodney.

"Don't worry about it," assured Cody. "I got Zack to fill me in last night without arousing too much suspicion."

"That's good," approved Rodney. "Now Connie, on the other hand, is a regular Chatty Cathy. I managed to gather quite a bit of intel from her."

"Such as?" prompted Cody.

"Apparently, you and Zack double-teamed as Best Men at Esteban's wedding," informed Rodney.

"Freaky," reacted Cody. "The same thing happened in our timeline. What else?"

"Well," continued Rodney. "It would seem that Old Man Tipton didn't approve at first of your dating his daughter. At that point, you called him out on being a bad father, which he reacted to by throwing you guys out of the hotel. The three of you moved in with your father until you could get back on your feet. Three weeks later, he called and apologized. He gave you his blessing to date London, then he retired and moved into the Tipton to spend more time with his daughter.

"By then you and Zack had already come up with the idea for the club. Tipton was so apologetic at that point that he was more than happy to front the money for it."

"Anything else?" prodded Cody.

"Not too much," replied Rodney. "Just that you'd been tutoring London, and she's doing a lot better at school. She's planning to attend U-Mass, and you're planning to attend MIT."

"Wow," reacted Cody. "Not at all how I'd have pictured my life turning out."

"That's the nature of alternate timelines," noted Rodney. "I'm sure there's a timeline where Jim Carrey is Prime Minister of Canada."

"Yeah," responded Cody. "I think I've had enough of alternate universes."

"You and me both," empathized Rodney.

"So how come Arwin never mentioned you before?" asked Cody.

Rodney hung his head. "That was kind of my fault."

"How so?" inquired Cody.

"Well," narrated Rodney, "As Arwin told you, he and I met at science camp up in the Canadian Rockies when we were kids. We kept in touch right up until he was in college."

"So what happened?" asked Cody.

"You know how Arwin ended up working at the Tipton, right?" asked Rodney.

"Yeah," supplied Cody. "When his father died and his mother got sick, he had to drop out of MIT and get whatever job he could find."

"Suffice to say, it wasn't a decision I agreed with at the time," continued Rodney. "I thought he was throwing his life away. I told him there were more important things at stake. That's when I learned the hard way: Never come between Arwin and his mother."

"So obviously, the two of you reconciled," observed Cody.

"Yeah, well," continued Rodney. "When I started dating Jennifer, she pointed out my tendency to alienate people. It was harsh, but I needed to hear it. So I called him up, apologized for being a jackass. He accepted, and told me about the P.U. Obviously, I couldn't pass up a project like that, so Jennifer agreed to let me take a couple of days out of our vacation to go visit him. And that brings us to where you came in."

"Yeah," acknowledged Cody. "I'm sorry I got you guys into this mess."

"Truth is," admitted Rodney. "We probably would've gotten ourselves into without your help. Besides, it isn't all bad."

"No, that it isn't," agreed Cody. "Actually, I'm starting to see a lot of things in a new light. I guess everything really does happen for a reason."

"Ah, now don't start with that Meaning of Life shtick," teased Rodney.

Cody went off in search of London. After looking for about half an hour, he found her in one of the small conference rooms, with an open book and several pages of notes sprawled out in front of her.

"Hey, London," greeted Cody as he walked in.

"Oh, hi Cody," she replied, not looking up.

"Listen," he continued. "I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch."

"Sorry," she apologized. "I need to get this Calculus done. I tried studying up in my suite, but it's just too busy with these dinner preparations."

"You're doing homework on Thanksgiving?" puzzled Cody. "Come on, London. Not even I'm that diligent."

"I know," acknowledged London. "But I want to do good on that test next week."

"You'll do fine," assured Cody. "Besides, you already got into U-Mass."

"That's because I paid for all four years up front," argued London. "I want to be ready when I get there."

"I have to say," complimented Cody, "I'm really happy to see you this excited about schoolwork."

"I have you to thank for that," responded London. "You helped me see how important it is. Daddy's not going to be around forever, and neither is Moseby. I know when the time is right, he'll be handing the company over to me. I want to be ready when he does."

"Well, when you put it that way," conceded Cody. "Tell you what: Let's order in, and I'll help you with your homework."

"Thanks Cody," said London, squeezing the hand he'd place on her shoulder. "You're the best."

Cody spent the rest of the afternoon guiding London through her study of the limits of functions. It seemed to him entirely different from any other attempt he'd made to tutor London. She maintained her patience as he gently goaded her to work through the problems herself. Furthermore, she made no attempt to try and make him do the work for her. When London closed her books, she felt confident that she had at least a journeyman's grasp on the subject matter. To his great surprise, Cody felt the same.

At five-thirty that evening, Cody stood with London, together with Wilfred Tipton and his wife Brandi, ready to begin receiving their dinner guests. Since the dress code was strictly casual, Tipton wore an atypical ensemble of a sweater over a collared shirt, and corduroy slacks.

"Oswald," commanded Tipton. "Begin showing our guests in."

"Very good, sir," obeyed the valet, boarding the elevator to retrieve the first set of guests.

The first to arrive were Esteban and his wife Francesca. Next were Connie and Arwin, with Rodney McKay in tow. Next came Carey and Kurt, together with Zack and Maya. Next were a couple Cody found himself surprised to see, namely, Bob and Barbara. Next time a trio of girls attending the event solo, viz: Chelsea Brimmer, Tiffany, and Max. Finally, Moseby and Emma brought up the rear.

Shortly after everyone arrived, Chef Paolo announced that dinner was served. Everyone stood behind their assigned seats, at which point Wilfred Tipton greeted them.

"Welcome, one and all, to the annual Tipton Family Thanksgiving Celebration. We're so glad so many of were able to attend this year. Chef Paolo and his staff have prepared a feast worthy of a king for us, so I hope you will derive as much enjoyment as possible from our hospitality. Before we begin, we should, of course, give thanks to the One who is the giver of everything we have. Dr. McKay, would you do the honors?"

"Who, me?" the decidedly non-religious scientist reacted.

"If you please," insisted Tipton.

"All right," capitulated Rodney. "Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for this time to gather together with family, and with friends, both old and new, to celebrate the many blessings You've bestowed upon us. We thank You for all the worlds you've created, and the people in them, and we ask Your blessing upon all of them. We thank You for this food; we ask Your blessing upon those who prepared it, and we ask that you would bless it to our nourishment, and our enjoyment. Amen."

"Amen," the guests replied in unison.

"Let's be seated," prompted Tipton. The men held out chairs for their dates, including Rodney, who held a chair for Tiffany, and the guests all took their seats. The servants poured the wine, after which Tipton proposed a toast.

"To absent family and friends," proposed Tipton. "May this day be just as blessed and bountiful for them."

"Here, here," agreed Brandi, and the guests toasted.

At that time, Tipton excused the wait-staff until after supper, and the guests enjoyed a family style meal, which given the size of the group, require a ridiculous amount of passing.

"So Max," ventured Zack. "I heard you got into Point Park."

"Yeah," confirmed Max. "I wanted to go to Juilliard, but I'm still pretty excited."

"So what about you two?" asked Rodney, directing his inquiry at Bob and Barbara.

"Well, I'm planning to study Music at USC," informed Barbara, "And Bob is going to CalTech."

"And how about you," asked Connie. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"It's Tiffany," she supplied. "I'm currently in my second year studying Pre-Med at Yale."

"Yes, Tiffany surprised all of us with that one," commented Tipton.

"Yes, well London inspired me," explained Tiffany. "I decided if she wanted to something more with her life than be a socialite, perhaps I should, as well."

When the crowd fell silent, Chelsea sensed it was her turn to speak.

"Oh," began Chelsea. "Um, I'm taking some time off school, actually. I don't want to waste my time or my stepfather's money until I've figured out what I really want to do."

"I think that's wise of you," complimented Carey. "I do wish Zack would tell me what he plans to do."

"Well, then," responded Maya. "I suppose now would be a good a time as any to make the announcement."

"What announcement?" asked Kurt.

"Mom, Dad...everybody," announced Zack. "Maya and I have decided to go into the Air Force together."

"Honey, are you sure about this?" asked Carey.

"Yeah," added Cody. "How can you be sure you'll be stationed together?"

"There's no guarantee," granted Zack. "But the recruiter told us there is one way to increase our odds."

With that, Zack got out of his chair, and descended upon bended knee.

"Maya Elizabeth Bennett," he asked. "Will you marry me?"

"Zack, buddy," Kurt cautioned his son. "I know we talked about this, but I wasn't expecting it this soon. Have you really thought this through?"

"I have," answered Zack. "And I've gotten Maya's parents' blessing. Maya, will you?"

Maya smiled as joyful tears ran down her face. "Yes."

"Mazeltov!" declared Barbara as she raised in her glass. Though Carey and Kurt still had their doubts, they raised their glasses in celebration as well.

After supper, the group moved into the living room for dessert, where they told whatever stories and sang whatever silly songs they could think of. After awhile, London noticed Cody's absence.

"Where's Cody?" London asked Rodney.

"I think he's out on the balcony," ventured Rodney. "I'll go see what he's up to."

As he expected, Rodney found Cody out on the balcony, sipping his brandy and looking out over the city.

"Hey," greeted Rodney.

"Hey," Cody replied.

"Getting some fresh air?" guessed Rodney.

"Yeah," confirmed Cody.

"Can't say as how I blame you," sympathized Rodney. "I actually celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with my sister and her husband and daughter last month. Obviously nothing nearly this extravagant."

Cody nodded. "This reality has been a lot to take in."

"Well, I have some good news on that front," announced Rodney. "I checked the power levels on the PU this evening just before dinner. We should be good to go by tomorrow morning."

"Best of luck to you," wished Cody, extending his hand to Rodney.

"What...what are you talking about?" asked Rodney, dumbfounded.

"I'm not going back," declared Cody.

"That's crazy talk!" argued Rodney.

"Is it?" countered Cody. "What's so crazy about a universe where everybody I care about is happy?"

"Just one problem with that," noted Rodney. "It's not your universe. If you stay here, you'll be stranding the Cody Martin who belongs here in ours."

"He seems like a real stand-up guy," said Cody. "The guy I always should've been. Maybe this was the way it was supposed to be. Maybe he's been sent to our universe to set right what I screwed up. I know one thing for sure: Seven Seas High was a mistake. We're all better off without it."

"Now you listen to me," lectured Rodney. "Maybe everything is hunky-dory for you in this universe. I don't dispute that. But the fact remains that this life isn't yours. It belongs to the other Cody Martin."

"Maybe that's true," granted Cody. "But you know what? I don't care! The matter's settled. I'm not going back."

With that, Cody stormed back into the suite, only to have London pull him aside.

"Cody, we need to talk," demanded London.

"I'm kind of not in the mood right now," dismissed Cody.

"Something is definitely wrong with you," continued London, ignoring his dismissal.

"I told you, I just haven't been myself lately," insisted Cody.

"And yet, you won't tell me what's wrong," argued London. "You tell me you love me, and yet you're clearly hiding something from me."

"You wouldn't understand," deflected Cody. "Hell, I don't even understand it fully!"

"Cody..."

"It's just something I'm going through right now," concluded Cody. "I'll talk about it when I'm ready."

"Okay," granted London, on the verge of tears. "When you're ready to talk about it, you know where to find me."

As Cody left, Rodney found Arwin, and pulled him aside.

"We have a problem," declared Rodney.

"Is there something wrong with the P.U.?" guessed Arwin.

"No, the device is fine," assured Rodney. "Everything's in the green. It's Cody."

"What about him?" asked Arwin.

"He's refusing to go back."

Arwin sighed. "I have to admit, I've entertained the notion myself. Maybe I should go talk to him."

"No, I don't think he'll listen to either of us," argued Rodney.

"I think I know someone he will," suggested Arwin.

Zack made his way back to his family's apartment building, where, as expected, he found his brother sitting on the roof.

"Hello, Cody," greeted Zack. "If that's your real name."

"Of course that's my real name," Cody replied indignantly. "Have you had too much to drink tonight?"

"Quite possibly," granted Zack. "But that's not why I'm here."

Cody sighed, finally realizing what was going on here. "What'd Arwin tell you?"

"Everything," answered Zack. "That he and Dr. McKay got the PU working, and that my brother's in another dimension."

"I guess he also told you that I'm not going back," guessed Cody.

"Yeah, he mentioned that," confirmed Zack. "Listen bro, I know it sucks, but you've gotta go."

"I can't go," insisted Cody. "Seven Seas High was a mistake, and we're all better off without it."

"In this universe," argued Zack. "In another one, we could all be miserable. In another, Seven Seas High could still have happened, and everything still turned out great. Arwin explained the theory to me. What happens in any universe doesn't hinge on any one thing. It depends on every moment of every day. That's why we have to make every moment count."

"I get what you're saying," granted Cody. "And yet, this still feels right."

"There's something else, isn't there?" sensed Zack.

"I'm in love with London," confessed Cody.

"No shit, Sherlock!" chided Zack, knocking on his brother's head.

"No, I mean I always have been," clarified Cody. "It's only now, in this reality, that I've realized it. Zack, in my universe, London I aren't together. I let her slip through my fingers; I spent two years wooing a girl who'd have been better off with somebody else. London's even more bitter and self-centered than she was three years ago. We're both miserable."

"So you're gonna just leave her there to rot?" surmised Zack.

"It's too late for her," defended Cody. "She's not the same girl anymore."

"I'm willing to bet that deep inside, she still is," argued Zack.

"How can you be sure?" asked Cody.

"Some things a dude just knows," declared Zack.

"And what about the London here?" argued Cody. "I can't just leave her."

"You're not leaving her," countered Zack. "You're giving her Cody back. He's the one her heart really belongs to. You can't spend the rest of your life fooling her into thinking you're him."

Cody grunted, unable to trump Zack's logic.

"Come on, dude," pleaded Zack. "You have to admit, stealing your own girl is pretty low."

Cody said nothing, but merely nodded in agreement. After a few more minutes on the roof, Cody made his way back to the hotel, where London met him in the lobby.

"You wanted to see me?" asked London as she stepped off the elevator.

"Yes," Cody said somberly. "I came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" asked London. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not who you think I am, London," explained Cody. "Your Cody has gone away, but if all goes well, he'll be back tomorrow. I'm sure he'll explain everything to you."

"I don't understand," said London.

"I know," acknowledged Cody. "I hope your Cody can make you understand."

With that, London threw herself into Cody's arms, and sobbed.

"I love you," declared Cody.

"I love you, too," sobbed London. "Please don't go."

"It's going to be okay," assured Cody. "Your Cody will take good care of you, like he always has."

"Don't forget me," cried London.

"Never," promised Cody.

None of the three men got much sleep that night, so they all appeared as death warmed over when they assembled the next morning in Arwin's workshop.

"Ready to go?" Rodney asked Cody, the last to arrive.

"Yeah," growled Cody. "Let's get this over-with."

The three men gingerly crammed into the phone booth so as not to actuate anything prematurely. Through some maneuvering, Rodney managed to get his hand on the controls.

"Departing for the universe as we know it in three, two, one..."

When Rodney finished the countdown, their surroundings glowed bright white for a moment, then settled back to their original colors as the device went dead. Unable to breathe, the three of them burst out of the phone booth.

"Did it work?" asked Arwin.

"I'm not sure," answered Rodney. No sooner than he said this than his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" greeted Rodney.

"Dr. McKay," said the man on the other end. "It's General Landry, Stargate Command. The three men, including yourself, you asked us to place in custody have just disappeared. I assume this means they've returned to their own universe."

"Yes, absolutely," assured Rodney.

"Very well," said Landry. "I'll debrief you when return from vacation. As I understand it, you're overdue for a date in Chippewa Falls."

"Yes, sir," responded Rodney. "Thank you, sir."

"And one more thing," added Landry. "If you ever screw around with alternate realities again without authorization, I'll send you to a planet where the rules of due process don't apply."

Rodney gulped. "Understood, sir."

"Have a pleasant holiday," wished Landry.

"You too, sir," reciprocated Rodney. "Goodbye."

"Everything all right?" asked Rodney.

"Yeah, apparently the other universe's McKay had our General Landry take us into custody," reported Rodney. "I wish I'd thought of that."

"Whatever," said Cody. "I'm just glad this is all over."

"Well, if you gentlemen will excuse me," declared Rodney as he took his leave, "I need to be in Chippewa Falls in half an hour."

"Fat chance of that," doubted Cody.

With that, Rodney simply smiled as he produced a device from his pocket, and bright beam of light appeared out of his midsection and spirited him up through the ceiling, making a ringing sound, accompanied by a thump-foom as it did so.

"There's a lot more than meets the eye about that dude," noted Cody, still in shock.

"Tell me about it," agreed Arwin.

With that, the two friends proceeded forthwith to Carey's apartment, who greeted them at the door.

"Oh, Cody," she cried, throwing her arms around her son.

"Hi, Mom," he greeted.

"I got a call from the Department of Defense saying you'd been detained on a matter of national security."

"Don't worry, Mom," assured Cody. "I'm not a terrorist. It was just a little mix-up."

"Well, I'm glad you're home safe," Carey said gratefully.

"Sorry I missed Thanksgiving," apologized Cody.

"Are you kidding?" interjected Kurt. "We wouldn't have it without you."

"Mainly because we need him to cook it," Zack muttered to Maya, at which they both snickered.

After the meal was prepared, Cody poured the wine, and offered a toast.

"To being home at last," proposed Cody. "With friends and family."

The following Sunday, the boys and Maya caught a flight to San Francisco, where they re-boarded the _S.S. Tipton_.

"Hey guys," greeted Bailey as they came aboard. "How was your Thanksgiving."

"Weird," reported Cody. "Very weird. How was yours?"

"Oh, wonderful," beamed Bailey. "Thanks for asking."

"Hey guys," Cody said to Zack and Maya. "I'll catch up to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, bro," agreed Zack, escorting Maya off to who-knows-where.

"Did you want to say something to me?" asked Bailey.

"Yeah, I did," answered Cody, taking Bailey's hands in his. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for everything that went wrong in our relationship."

"Cody, you don't have to do this," Bailey said somberly.

"Let me finish," asked Cody, to which Bailey nodded. "I never really got to know you as a friend, or really considered if I was the right guy for you. So I just wanted to say, at least on my end, there are no hard feelings, and I'd like to give this friendship thing a try."

Bailey nodded. "I'd like that."

"Great," approved Cody. "If you'll excuse me, I need to try and catch someone."

"London," called Cody, who found her sitting at the smoothie bar.

"Oh, hi," greeted London. "What's up?"

"Listen," began Cody. "The ship doesn't leave port until tomorrow evening. I know of this quaint little bistro in town. I was wondering if you might join me for lunch."

Cody studied London as her face contorted.

"I'm sorry, was that out of line?" asked Cody.

"Well, no," granted London. "I just don't recall you ever asking me to lunch before."

"Last time was about three years ago," reminded Cody. "So I figured I'm about due."

"Um, okay," agreed London. "Sure."

"Meet you here at eleven thirty?" suggested Cody.

"I'll be here," promised London.

With that, Cody proceeded with best possible speed to his cabin, where his luggage had been delivered.

"What it is, Codester?" greeted Woody, his roommate.

"Woody, do me a favor," requested Cody.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Woody.

"Go clean yourself up and ask Bailey to lunch," instructed Cody.

"Excuse me?" Woody asked incredulously.

"Just do it," urged Cody.

"Okay," agreed Woody, ducking into the shower.

Cody looked through his luggage and found the small box he'd packed, then headed for the senior staff quarters. Once there, he knocked on Connie's door.

"Oh, hi, Cody," greeted Connie. "What can I do for you?"

"I was back in Boston for Thanksgiving," explained Cody. "I told a a friend of mine a little about you, and he asked me to pass this along to you."

"Oh," responded Connie as she took the box. "Well, thank you."

"You're very welcome," said Cody. "Have a nice night."

Connie returned to her cabin and opened the card attached to the box. It read:

_Dear Connie:_

_My dear friend Cody told me about you. I know you're going through a tough time, and I thought you could use some cheering up. If you ever want to talk, my business card is attached._

_Yours truly,_

_Arwin Hawkhauser_

Connie opened the box, then cried with glee as the teddy bear contained therein did an awkward but playful dance.

**The End**

_Rodney McKay was a main character in the series _Stargate Atlantis, _played by David Hewlett._

_General Hank Landry was a main character in the last two seasons of the series _Stargate SG-1, _played by Beau Bridges._

_Wilfred Tipton, were I to cast him, would be played by John O'Hurley. _

_Thanks for reading._


	3. DarkElements10 I

**Bailey's New Year's Surprise**

**By: DarkElements10**

**A/N: Surprise pairing at end**

_Happy New Year._

Well not quite yet. She looked at her watch. Six minutes to go and counting.

Another firework exploded above her in the salty sea air, its millions of colored sparks spreading across a black canvas of stars until fading into smoke. It followed with a few scattered claps, and cheers, but she knew everyone was already too excited and too happy to care. She took a seat on one of the deckchairs, obscured from view in a more dark and quiet area of the patio. She was never one for celebrating anyway.

"Hey, Bailey, you want another one?"

She turned her head the young man before her, holding out a cold cup of punch. She could only guess that it was spiked, people had been stumbling all over the place for the last hour and she was surprised that Tutweiller hadn't called them out on it. Bailey mutely waved her hand in reply and watched as he shrugged, sucking back the liquid and walking over to the edge of the pool.

_Five minutes._

She couldn't help being depressed. It was another year over, another celebration to welcome a new year that would replace the old, an event she was not too happy about. Ending 2010? Why? A New Year meant more tests, more subjects, more responsibilities and one step closer to becoming an adult as well as not being with her friends and the one she loved to ring in the New Year with. Zack, Cody, London, Woody, Addison, and Marcus had all gone back home. And here she was all alone. What was the point of looking forward to future?

_Four minutes._

This year had been…amazing. Sure, a few of her friends had left, but everything generally had a good flow. She excelled in all subjects, adapted to her classes and then excelled in them, and had some experiences she would never forget. In the back of her mind, 2010 was her year. It was hers. The year of Bailey.

And she was going to leave it all behind?

_Three minutes._

They're laughing?

Why?

Because they're glad that now they are headed into another year, a year to replace everything that they had done for the past twelve months. They were welcoming 2011 with open arms. It hurt her. Bailey tried to look away, but seeing how happy they were, it was wrong. They were laughing for all the wrong reasons! The wrong reasons…

Or not?

_Two minutes._

Who was she to say that 2011 wouldn't bring what 2010 had brought her? Friends? Life? So maybe she would be older, but it was going to happen. Holding back time was still impossible and if she never moved on, no new memories could be created for her. No more living on the edge with her friends beside her. 2010 wouldn't be replaced…no…just extended.

_One minute._

She looked back at the Sky Deck, everyone was out and drying off, listening to radio for the countdown. A countdown to end her year. She looked at her watch, silently counting down. So maybe it wasn't too bad. Maybe she could make this year just as good, maybe even better. Nothing was going to be left behind. As the radio hit midnight and the hands on her watch moved another inch, she sat back and looked back up to the stars, hearing everyone screaming to one another

"Happy new year!"

And she smiled.

"Bailey!"

Bailey turned around to see who was calling her name and before she knew it, the person had crashed into her and their lips were pressed against hers in a passionate kiss. Bailey's eyes widened, ready to attack whoever it was that thought they could just go ahead and kiss her, even though it was a new year tradition, before she recognized the familiar head of blonde hair. She closed her eyes and happily kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

It wasn't until a few minutes later, when they were fully out of breath that she stood back and grinned up at him, tears filling her eyes.

"Zack," she breathed. "I thought…I thought you went home to spend New Years with your family."

"I did," Zack replied as he cupped Bailey's cheeks in his hands, staring down at her lovingly. "But I couldn't stand the thought of you being here alone when the New Year rolled in. So at the last port in Cape Cod, I got on and stayed away from you so I could keep it a surprise."

"I'm definitely surprised." Bailey laughed, smiling happily. She moved forward and kissed him sweetly. "I love you Zack, Happy New Year."

"Right back atcha," Zack smiled and kissed her again. "That means, I love you too."


	4. Lady Alice101 I

**New Year's Eve**

**By Lady Alice101**

**A/N: I am so very excited to take part in this collection!**

Cody and Bailey walked hand and hand up to the park. They were in Sydney, Australia, and were very excited to be here at News Years. You see, every New Year there are fireworks that are shot from the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Cody and Bailey walked past the Opera House, promising each other that they would talk to London to see if she could get them tickets.

When Cody and Bailey got to the park, it was already quite full. And it was only 1:00 in the afternoon! The fireworks wouldn't start until right at midnight, but Cody and Bailey had decided to come early knowing that a lot of people would come. They hadn't expected so many already though. Luckily they found a nice, big area where Zack and London could go too. Zack and London had been dating for a year now, where as Cody and Bailey had been for two.

"This is gonna be so much fun Cody!" Bailey gushed.

"It is. Ever since I was little, mum, Zack and I would stay up until midnight and wait for these fireworks to show on T.V. I always loved trying to search for the right channel" Cody laughed.

"You are very lucky. We could never see these kinds of things on the farm" Bailey sighed

"But now you're here. At Sydney where all the action actually happens" Cody replied.

"Yes, I am. Here with the best man in the world." Bailey laughed. Cody pulled her in for a hug, but Bailey maneuvered herself so she could go for a kiss instead. After a couple of seconds she pulled away, and Cody still had his eyes closed.

"Two years of being your girlfriend and you think you can get away with just a hug" Bailey pouted.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I am so glad I was wrong" Cody laughed, opening his eyes slowly.

They were still in a tight embrace, and they leaned in for another kiss, but were interrupted.

"Can't you guys go one hour without showing us all your mushy-mushy attitude" Zack complained, coming up behind Cody, dragging London behind.

"Dude, if you had been dating London this long, you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off her either" Cody laughed, yet still annoyed.

"Seems like you two aren't the only ones showing public affection" London said, gesturing around. When the group looked around, they could see many couples sitting on picnic rugs, making out.

"Well, I guess this only leaves one thing to do" Zack said. He then pulled London in for a passionate kiss.

Cody and Bailey looked back at each other, shrugged and did the same.

After 10 hours of talking to each other, kissing their significant other, and looking around the harbor, it was nearly time for the show to begin.

"This is going to be exciting" Zack yelled over the noise of the crowd.

After about 40 minutes, a voice came over the PA system.

"Hey everyone! My name is Kyle, and I will be your host tonight. Are guys ready for 2011?" he screamed. This resulted in the crowed cheering even louder.

"Well, this year there is even more fireworks than any previous year!" Kyle yelled. The uproar of the large crowd was deafening.

"We have just been informed that we have broken any previous record for attendance to the New Years fireworks, anywhere in Australia, having over 2 Million people here, even more than Melbourne!" Kyle yelled. Again. Zack, Cody, Bailey and London didn't think it was possible for the crowd to be even louder.

"So grab that someone special, pull them close and prepare to count down to the New Year!"

Cody pulled Bailey onto his lap and held her close.

"5" Kyle started to count down.

"4" Cody whispered in Baileys ear, sending chills down her back.

"3" Zack whispered to London, sending similar chills down her back, like what happened to Bailey.

"2" London and Bailey said at the same time, to their respective boyfriends.

"1" they all said.

"Happy new year!" Kyle yelled.

But Cody, Bailey, Zack and London were all too caught up in their kiss to hear. Just then, the fireworks started, and they all looked up.

Firstly, green and pink fireworks went off at the top of the bridge. Then more blue and purple ones shot off at the sides. While this was going on, slowly the middle of the bridge started to glow. Then in one sudden movement, it exploded in an array of colours, showing of a smiley face.

The whole show was amazing and it lasted for about 20 minutes. After that, Kyle came back on,

"Now, this year we are doing something new. Get ready for the kiss spotlight! This spotlight over here" some dude started waving around a massive spotlight "Will land on a random couple, and they will have to kiss in front of the whole world!" Kyle said.

A lot of people stood up, wanting to be caught, but the four friends were than happy to stay where they were. Fortunately a lot of other people in the same area as the friends decided to stay sitting down too.

The spotlight hit a couple that were sitting on a boat. A camera screened them, and it came up on a massive television on the bridge, and everyone gasped in amazement at the screen. The couple shared a sweet kiss that was nice short.

The spotlight moved away and the camera panned out to see everywhere to spotlight went. After a couple more people, Kyle came back over the system.

"All righty folks, here is out last kiss" he said.

Then the spotlight went straight to Cody and Bailey.

At first they were a little shocked, but shrugged and started to kiss.

After a few seconds they broke away and the camera and spotlight left them.

"Dude, you were totally making out on live TV" Zack whispered to Cody, patting him on the back.

"Haha" Cody said sarcastically.

"Just saying" Zack defended himself.

_On the other side of the world._

"Oh"

"My"

"God"

Those three simple words were spoken by Carey Martin, Maggie Pickett (Baileys mum) and Joe Pickett. (Baileys dad)

_2 weeks earlier._

"_Hey mum. I am sorry that we can't be home for either Christmas or New Years, but Zack and I will make it up to you. As you probably know, we are going to be in Australia for New Years, and we are going to the Harbour Bridge. Invite the Pickett's over so you can 'chat' or something. I don't know, just get to know them. Okay, I love you." Cody's message played through the suite in the _Tipton, _as Carey had just pressed play. _

I'll get on that now, _Carey thought._

"_Hello, Maggie Pickett speaking" Maggie answered._

"_Maggie! It's Carey Martin." Carey spoke._

"_Oh, Carey. How are you?" Maggie replied._

"_I'm good thanks. Yourself?"_

"_I'm great. Any news on whether the kids will be home?"_

"_I'm sorry, but they won't be. But Cody called earlier and said they will be in Australia for Christmas as well as New Years." Carey replied sadly._

"_Oh"_

"_So, Cody was wondering if you guys wanted to come over to Boston" Carey continued._

"_That sounds great."_

"_OK. How does a week sound? That way we can get to know each other better" Carey offered._

"_Sure. We'll call you in a week or so with the info"_

"_Great. See you soon"_

"_Bye" Maggie replied before ending the call. _

"_Joe, we're going to Boston for Christmas and New years." Maggie called out from the front door. _

"_Why?" Joe called back._

"_To talk with Carey. And we'll be able to surprise Bails when she comes home" Maggie yelled._

"_Fine"_

_Maggie pulled her head back in the door and headed upstairs to pack._

"OK, when I said we might see them on TV, I was not expecting to _actually _see them" Maggie spoke first after a few minutes.

"You girls owe me a drink" Joe laughed.

Earlier that evening, the adults had made bets.

Carey bet they wouldn't see the kids. Maggie bet they would, but only in the background. And Joe bet that they would see the kids kiss.

"Fine" Maggie and Carey grumbled reluctantly. _What a _fantastic _way to start the New Year, _they both thought at the same time.

**_*Just a quick admin note for writers wishing to partake in this year's collection. We will not be allowing oneshots containing twincest in either the T or M-rated collections. My humblest apologies to anyone who did want to submit this kind of material to the holiday series. We hope you all will still make meaningful contributions to both collections*_**


	5. Snapplelinz I

_**A/N: This was originally posted as the introduction chapter when woundedhearts was still hosting the collection. But I decided to re-write the intro chapter and include this as an actual oneshot in the series. Hope you like it!**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Something To Be Thankful For**

**By Snapplelinz**

Bailey lay on her stomach on her bed, paging listlessly through one of London's fashion magazines. She was in their cabin aboard the S.S. Tipton, the ship on course towards countries located in the southern hemisphere, particularly South Africa and Australia. She sighed loudly, thinking that Christmas was going to be a lot warmer than she initially anticipated. Just then, someone began knocking softly on the cabin door.

"It's open." Bailey called out automatically.

In walked her ex-boyfriend, Cody, looking perfectly immaculate as always in a pair of jeans, a polo shirt and sneakers.

"Hey, Cody. What's up?" Bailey greeted politely.

"I just came to get my sewing kit back from London." Cody explained quickly.

"Oh crackers. London threw your sewing kit out of the port hole yesterday." Bailey informed Cody apologetically.

"What? Why?" Cody asked in alarm.

"It was an accident. Because your sewing kit's in a brown leather wallet, London mistook it for my leather wallet which I made during the summer back in Kettlecorn, and threw it out of the port hole." Bailey explained patiently.

"Why would London wanna throw your hand-made leather wallet out of the port hole?" Cody asked in disbelief.

"Because she thinks it's hideous. Sorry about your sewing kit though," Bailey responded with a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry about it; I've got six more where that one came from. I guess I should head back to my cabin then, thanks." Cody concluded casually.

Bailey nodded at him and turned back to the magazine she was currently flipping through. As Cody made his way to the door, he couldn't help turning back once more when he heard Bailey emit an unconscious sigh.

"Hey, Bails. You ok?" he asked in concern, turning all the way around to face her.

Bailey looked up sharply at Cody with an alarmed expression. Then she quickly turned her face into her usual smile instead.

"Uh huh, I'm fine." She answered a little too quickly.

"Are you sure? You seem kinda down." Cody pressed tentatively, tilting his head slightly to look more closely at Bailey.

Bailey decided to be partially honest with Cody.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Cody. But I just don't feel that comfortable talking to you about things since…we broke up." Bailey admitted uncomfortably while only looking Cody partially in the eye.

This statement hurt Cody's feelings more than he would ever care to admit out loud. But he composed himself admirably in the face of it and tried a different tact with his ex-girlfriend.

"You're right, it has been kinda rocky since we broke up a few months ago. But I still think of you as my friend, Bailey. Heck, we started out as friends before we even started dating. If you don't wanna talk to me about what's bothering you, that's cool. But I want you to know that I am here if you need anything." He replied kindly.

Then with a nod of his head, Cody smiled wryly at Bailey one last time before preparing to leave.

"Wait," Bailey called out at the last minute before Cody could shut the door.

Cody opened the door again and stepped back over the threshold of Bailey and London's cabin.

"You're right. If we're ever gonna be comfortable around each other again, then both of us have to make the effort to try and be civil to each other. And I really could use a listening ear right now. Please stay, Cody." Bailey implored sincerely with a small smile on her face.

Cody smiled in turn and hesitantly sat on the edge of Bailey's bed, waiting for her to speak.

"So…what's up?" Cody asked lamely, failing at his attempt to be nonchalant.

"Well…the truth is…I'm kind depressed about Christmas vacation." Bailey confessed soberly.

"How come? We're going to Australia." Cody pointed out calmly.

"Exactly. We're going thousands of miles in the opposite direction of where I wanna be for Christmas. And that's back in Kettlecorn with my family." Bailey elaborated sadly.

"Uh, don't take this the wrong way, Bailey. But haven't you known for weeks like everyone else on board that we were planning on sailing through the southern hemisphere during Christmas vacation?" Cody ventured hesitantly, gearing up for a defensive Bailey.

To his intense relief, Bailey's only response was to sigh even louder.

"Yeah, I did know, Cody. So I asked my parents a couple of weeks ago if there was any way that the whole family could fly to Sydney when we dock there in a few days' time so we could still spend some of Christmas vacation together. My parents even started saving up for the trip down under. But my mom called me last night to tell me that a tornado swept through Kettlepod three days ago, right into Kettlecorn and damaged most of the crops as well as some of the houses, including ours. The whole roof of our house and the barn got ripped off, so my parents have to use the trip money to repair the damage. So they can't come anymore." Bailey explained miserably.

"Oh no, that's terrible, Bailey. And you can't go home either?" Cody questioned anxiously.

"I tried, but Mr. Moseby said that the captain can't turn the ship around. Plus, I can't ask my parents to pay for a plane ticket just for me to come home. My mom told me that I should stay on the ship anyway and try to enjoy the trip to Australia since it was a great opportunity and that I can always come home after New Year's for a few days. All the repairs should be done by then, which is something at least." Bailey responded wearily.

"Oh, Bailey. I'm so sorry. Maybe this doesn't mean much to you, but I do understand on some level how homesick you must feel right now. My parents have only been able to visit me and Zack on board that one time when you went on that field trip with the rest of the class. We were lucky to be able to spend other Christmas vacations together in Boston. But there was last year when the S.S. Tipton got delayed leaving Thailand and we couldn't make it back to Boston and my parents couldn't come see us either. Neither Zack or I would admit it at the time, but it was pretty hard for both of us being apart from my parents; we're all pretty close." Cody replied empathetically.

Then he slowly moved closer and placed his hand over Bailey's, which was resting on top of her duvet. To his surprise, Bailey didn't pull away, but turned to face him with a small smile on her face.

"Thanks, Cody. I really appreciate you listening to me pour my heart out." She murmured appreciatively, squeezing his hand affectionately.

"It's the least I could do after…everything that's happened between us lately. I just wish I could do more." Cody lamented soberly.

"Me too. London would kill me if she saw me moping around the cabin all day. I'm trying to look on the bright side of going to Australia for Christmas vacation with all my friends. But honestly, I'm drawing a blank." Bailey admitted painstakingly.

"Well, I'm going to use part of the time spent there for research. I want to do some extensive studies on the mating patterns of the Koala Bear." Cody declared excitedly, causing Bailey to chuckle slightly.

"That does sound like fun. I'm just not sure if I'm in the mood for more work after we just finished writing our exams." Bailey confessed wryly.

"Fair enough. How 'bout making some predictions?" Cody asked in a different tone.

"What do you mean?" Bailey queried in confusion, looking at her ex-boyfriend more intently.

"Well…it hasn't just been a crazy year for the two of us, romantically speaking. Everybody we know on board has been going through some interesting romantic issues lately, even Zack. Maybe it could be fun to predict who might hook up over Christmas break." Cody remarked slyly.

"Cody, are you serious? Who do you think might get together during Christmas vacation?" Bailey asked curiously in spite of herself.

"It's hard to tell. But I have a feeling that Zack might try to make another play for Maya." Cody ventured knowingly.

"No way! Maya's turned Zack down a dozen times! Why would he put himself through that again?" Bailey questioned laughingly.

"Because Zack's hopeless when it comes to beautiful girls. Plus, I may have talked him into trying a 6-month plan to get Maya to go out with him." Cody admitted sheepishly.

"You didn't? Cody, how could you?" Bailey exclaimed, punching Cody in the arm while laughing hysterically.

"Ouch, that hurt, Bailey! Maybe I'm just as hopeless as my brother when it comes to a beautiful girl too." Cody finished off a little more seriously than previously intended.

Bailey shifted herself subtly away from Cody's arm, which had been resting against hers a second ago. Then she placed her hands in her lap, coughed slightly and took to staring Cody straight in the eye while willing herself to stop blushing.

"Besides Zack, who else do you think will get together over Christmas break?" Bailey asked quietly, trying to cover up the super-awkward moment that had just arisen.

Cody cleared his throat loudly to compose himself before answering Bailey.

"Well…I'm thinking that Marcus might try and get London to go out with him. He's still got the hots for her in a big way." Cody replied more confidently.

"Seriously? Do you think London's interested in him at all?" Bailey asked conspiratorially of Cody.

"You're her roommate, you tell me." Cody countered cleverly.

"Well, she's never said anything to me about it. But you never know with London; she has been known to be surprisingly deep at the best of times." Bailey returned pensively.

"So true. What about you, though? Who do you think is gonna get together before the end of the year?" Cody probed gently.

"Me? I don't know, I haven't really thought about it. Maybe…Woody and Addison? They've always liked each other ever since we started at Seven Seas Academy, if playing that 'Better Life' game together means anything. Something might happen there." Bailey ventured uncertainly.

"Maybe. But I heard that Becky might still be interested in Woody. It could turn into an interesting love triangle." Cody proposed devilishly.

"Oh my gosh, can you imagine all the drama if that happened? Addison might attempt to actually wrestle Becky for Woody." Bailey chortled loudly.

"Exactly. And we both know how that will go. Zack knows better than anybody." Cody agreed while laughing heartily.

When Cody and Bailey's laughter finally subsided, Bailey proposed another couple.

"What about Ms. Tutweiller and Mr. Moseby?"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. It's so obvious that they're secretly in love with each other."

"I hate to say it, Bailey, but I've never been convinced of Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller's 'secret passion' for each other." Cody declared sceptically with air-quotes.

"How can you say that? What about that one time when the Starlight Follies were on board? They were meeting each other all over the ship for secret rendezvous." Bailey protested excitedly.

"Which as it turned out, was because Ms. Tutweiller was filling in for another member of the chorus-line." Cody interjected matter-of-factly.

"Not every night. There were a couple of times when London and I tailed them around the ship and Ms. Tutweiller didn't go to the Starlight Follies' show. Her and Moseby were always walking in the opposite direction towards the Sky Deck, so they could've been meeting together in private." Bailey returned triumphantly.

"Ok, maybe they did get together a couple of times then. But when they actually started dating after Zack and London set them up after that Singles Cruise, they were horrible together. Ms. Tutweiller mocked 'The Three Stooges' and Mr. Moseby said she had no sense of humour." Cody protested.

"Ok, maybe they didn't mesh that well back then. But I don't know, Cody, things might've changed between them recently. They seemed to have gotten closer since then." Bailey replied knowingly.

"Maybe. I guess you can't rule anything out on this ship." Cody agreed seriously.

Bailey bit her bottom momentarily before proposing another possibility.

"Connie?"

She and Cody locked eyes with one another before they both blurted out:

"Dumped by her boyfriend!"

Bailey fell back against her pillow, clutching her stomach and cackling loudly. Cody leant over the side of Bailey's bed in the same position, on the verge of tears at the expense of Connie's dismal love life. When they had both calmed down sufficiently, Bailey turned to face Cody with a serious expression on her face.

"You know what? Doing these predictions was kinda fun. Maybe Christmas won't be so bad this year after all. Thanks, Cody." Bailey stated sincerely before leaning in quickly and kissing Cody on the cheek.

"You're welcome, glad I could help. But you know, you did forget one last couple who could still get together during Christmas." Cody offered mysteriously.

"Who?" Bailey asked curiously.

"Who else? You and me. You gotta admit, when it was good between us, we were epic." Cody teased smoothly, causing Bailey to emit a high pitch chuckle.

"Oh, stop. Maybe you should save those beautiful memories for Thanksgiving instead." Bailey teased back airily, causing Cody to chuckle in turn.

"Yeah, maybe. I'm gonna go get a head start on my Koala Bear research. See ya later for dinner?" Cody asked lightly.

"Sure." Bailey agreed, a glowing smile on her face.

"Cool. Bye."

With one last awkward wave, Cody exited Bailey and London's cabin. Bailey sat watching the door for a few seconds longer, trying her best to ignore the smile on her face that just wouldn't let up. Then she sighed again.

Only this time, it was wistful instead of despairing.

* * *

Bailey stood alone on the Sky Deck, peering over the railing at the vast ocean looming ahead in the distance. It was the day after Christmas and she had just finished enjoying a sumptuous dinner with her friends and the other passengers in the lavish dining hall aboard the S.S. Tipton. The events of the past few days had left Bailey with a lot of things to think about and a lot of questions to ask herself in turn.

She was interrupted from pondering on the meaning behind the events of the past few days when she heard soft footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Cody walking towards her, an unfathomable expression on his face. Ordinarily, Bailey would've been annoyed by his sudden appearance. But after everything that had happened between them lately, she was elated in spite of herself by his coming to find her after dinner.

"Hey," he greeted slowly, coming to stand next to Bailey.

"Hey, yourself." Bailey greeted softly before turning to face the ocean once more.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Cody asked gently, a small smile on his face.

"Just thinking about the past few days," Bailey murmured pensively, looking at Cody again.

"Yeah, it has been pretty crazy on deck lately. By the way, good call on Addison's wrestling match with Becky." Cody praised lightly, causing Bailey to chuckle momentarily.

"I guess. But I still didn't know that they'd end up tackling each other and Woody into the hot tub with their antics." Bailey responded dryly.

"Maybe we should call it a rule of thumb: anyone who boards the S.S. Tipton will most likely end up in the hot tub before they disembark." Cody teased knowingly.

"Tell me about it. I ended up in the hot tub after only being on the ship for a week." Bailey mused nostalgically.

"That's still better than Mr. Moseby's record. He almost always misses his mark by ending up in the ocean instead." Cody joked with a wide smile on his face.

"Very true. Speaking of Mr. Moseby, you owe me 20 bucks." Bailey added suddenly, holding her palm out expectantly to Cody.

Cody sighed dramatically before fishing his wallet out of his pocket and handing Bailey a crisp 20 dollar bill.

"Thank you very much," Bailey replied with a triumphant smirk on her face.

"I still don't know how you knew that Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller would share a romantic kiss underneath the mistletoe during the Christmas party last night." Cody griped.

"Like I said before, both Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller love "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind and Fire, which happened to be playing while they were dancing together." Bailey remarked cleverly.

"The one and only thing they happen to agree on. That, and the fact that Zack is a good-for-nothing bum." Cody remarked drolly.

"Couples have gotta have common interests, right? All in all, it was a pretty great Christmas, considering how much I wasn't looking forward to it in the first place." Bailey mused seriously.

"I'm glad you enjoyed Christmas, Bailey. I've really missed your smile these past couple of weeks." Cody declared honestly.

"Well, it's because of you that I've been smiling a lot more lately. You've been so sweet and amazing when I really needed a friend. Thank you," Bailey murmured sincerely.

"You're welcome. Since I've been part of the reason why you haven't been smiling as much lately, I felt like I kind of owed you that much." Cody confessed meekly, meeting Bailey's look bravely.

Bailey's eyes crinkled with sadness at Cody's words. She instinctively moved closer towards him, secretly relieved that he didn't move away from her.

"That's not true. I've had a lot of different things weighing on my mind lately. It hasn't all been because of you, Cody." She murmured reassuringly.

"But some of it has been because of me, hasn't it, Bailey? All those times when you couldn't even look me in the eye after one of our stupid fights after we broke up…" Cody lamented.

"Yes, those fights were stupid and upsetting. It hurt every time we said those awful things to each other. But it hurt me even more because…I still care about you, Cody." Bailey admitted solemnly, her fair hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

For a while, Cody didn't know how to respond to what Bailey had just said to him. So he decided to diffuse the sudden awkwardness between them by changing the subject.

"You know what's worse than being 20 bucks short? Knowing that you beat me out on holiday predictions this year, considering it was my idea in the first place." Cody teased lightly while shooting Bailey a furtive smile, hoping she bought it.

"What makes you say that?" Bailey asked curiously, shifting her arm resting on the metal railing to look more intently at Cody.

"Well, you did get more predictions right than I did, especially with Woody's twisted love life, as well as with Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller dating again. I pretty much struck out on all my predictions." Cody confessed wryly.

"Not all of them," Bailey noted softly.

Cody furrowed his eyebrow in confusion.

"You did predict that you and I might get back together during the holidays." Bailey explained seriously.

"But that didn't happen, Bailey." Cody pointed out quietly.

Then Bailey surprised Cody even more by moving closer to him, placing a tentative hand on his cheek.

"Well, you know me. I've always been a little slow on the uptake," she breathed softly before delicately brushing her lips against his.

Cody's hands moved up towards Bailey's cheeks and caressed them gently as he deepened the kiss. And then their lips were moving feverishly together, noses bumping carelessly, hands mimicking their every thought and emotion. And when they finally caught their breath, Cody rested his forehead against Bailey's and closed his eyes tightly.

"I've missed you so much, Bails," he whispered hoarsely, half afraid that when he opened his eyes, he'd realise that all of this was just a dream.

"Me too. You were right about us, Cody." Bailey whispered back.

"Yeah? How so?"

"We are pretty epic together when we get it right."

Cody smiled radiantly at this while tracing Bailey's jaw line tenderly.

"I guess I did have something to be thankful for this year after all," he remarked smartly.

"You and me both," Bailey agreed seriously, looking upwards to stare into Cody's blue eyes, the flecks of his green and gold corneas shimmering from the light of the moonlight overhead.

Their lips met briefly once more before Bailey leant forward and embraced Cody in a tight hug, kissing him gently on the cheek. Cody's hands in turn rested on Bailey's hips while she rested her head against his chest as they continued standing alone on the Sky Deck together.

* * *

_**A/N: Hope you all liked the Cailey lovin' in this oneshot. If anyone wants me to write another oneshot focusing more on the actual holiday predictions made by Cody and Bailey, drop me a line. Happy holidays, everybody! **_


	6. Lady Alice101 II

**Recollections**

**By Lady Alice101**

The Boston skyline reached into the distance as the plane flew overhead. All the different lights merged together as if they were weaved into some great quilt that blanketed the earth. Eleven year old Bailey Pickett sat in her seat wishing she were home. Her parents and siblings were invited to visit a great Aunt she'd never met before and spend the holidays in Boston of all places. Where the temperature gage reached far lower than any in Kettlecorn history, not that it didn't snow in Kansas sporadically, but Boston being on the east coast would naturally be far colder. At least that's what she told herself.

"Oh honey, please cheer up." Jeanine Pickett told her daughter. "You'll have fun, and it's an opportunity to explore one of the oldest cities in this country. Not to mention you get to meet your great aunt." Jeanine pleaded.

"Yes mamma." Bailey sighed.

"That's my girl." Jeanine smiled.

Bailey sighed yet again and turned her head to look back out the window.

"Bailey Pickett, you need to be happy! This is Christmas, and we are staying at the Tipton hotel, one of the nicest hotels in the world." Jeanine scolded.

"Mhm." Bailey sighed again.

Jeanine shook her head and look away from the upset picture of her daughter.

"Zack, she's just gonna turn you down again, then you'll be unhappy over Christmas, and you won't enjoy the _lovely _feast that I am making!" Cody said, getting happier towards the end picturing the yummy turkey he was going to make.

"Feast, shemeast. I want Maddie." Zack said, skipping away to go and hit on the blonde candy counter girl. Cody rolled his eyes and headed towards the elevators when he was stopped by Moseby.

"Cody, over the holidays I need you to make sure that Zack doesn't get in any trouble." Moseby commanded.

"Don't worry I-" Cody started but there was a ding at the front desk and Moseby hurried over to attend to the customer. Cody looked at the family. They obviously weren't from the city. He was waiting by the elevator, wishing that Zack would hurry up, when one of the younger girls looked his way. She had brown eyes and long, brown hair. She was wearing a denim skirt and a red checkered blouse. She was beautiful. Cody couldn't stop staring at her, as he was locked in her warm gaze.

"What ya lookin' at Code-red?" Zack asked, pressing the button to go up.

"Nothing." Cody sighed as he walked through the doors of the elevator. He turned around, hoping to find the girl, but her and her family had left.

The Pickett family walked up to the reception desk of the Tipton hotel, and Jeanine dinged the bell. A short man came running up and apologized quickly, before asking what they needed.

While her parents went through the process of checking in, Bailey looked around the large lobby. _Everything is so… fancy_, she thought. She was still scanning over the lobby, when she spotted a boy around her age, staring at her. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing loose jeans, and a baby blue shirt with a sweater-vest that had a dark blue checkered pattern. He was so handsome. She was staring into his blue eyes, when someone who looked exactly the same walked up to him. He shook his head and turned around and walked into the elevator.

"Bailey, let's go." Jeanine said, taking her hand and leading her away.

Bailey looked back at the elevator, but the boy was already gone.

_5 years later_

It was Christmas on the SS. Tipton. The first on with all the students still stuck on board.

"I wanna go home!" Cody whined to Zack.

"Too bad, we can't! But… I wanna go home too!" Zack whined in a similar voice as Cody had used.

"You guys said that you lived in the Tipton, didn't you?" Bailey asked. Bailey, Cody and Zack had gotten to know each other better, and Bailey had become suspicious of Cody.

"Yeah" Cody drawled.

Bailey was having some odd thoughts.

_Tipton? That's where I went when I was eleven. And Cody looks so much like that boy with the blonde hair and blue eyes… Bailey, be realistic here! They can't be the same person… Could they? _She knew she was being stupid but she couldn't help herself.

"Yup. The Tipton. Finest hotel in the world." Zack bragged.

"It was until you two showed up there." Moseby grumbled passing by.

Bailey laughed, and Cody joined in. Zack however was unhappy at Moseby's comment.

"Thinks he knows everything." Zack grumbled.

"I remember Christmas five years ago. We had just gotten home from our last day of school, and you went over to flirt with Maddie. Moseby came up to me and said, 'Cody, over the holidays I need you to make sure that Zack doesn't get in any trouble.' But we didn't get to discuss anything more because he had to help a customer…" Cody trailed off, having a flashback.

_Cody looked at the family. They obviously weren't from the city. He was waiting by the elevator, wishing that Zack would hurry up, when one of the younger girls looked his way. She had brown eyes and long, brown hair. She was wearing a denim skirt and a red checkered blouse. She was beautiful. Cody couldn't stop staring at her, as he was locked in her warm gaze._

Cody shook his head and looked at Bailey. Cody abruptly stood up, knocking over his chair and smoothie.

"Dude, you are _so _cleaning that up." Zack laughed.

"That's your job." Cody said, and then sprinted off towards his cabin.

"What's up with him?" Bailey asked, confused.

"He probably just misses mum. Or maybe he wanted to make the feast." Zack chuckled, wiping up the mess Cody had made.

"Right… Feast." Bailey mumbled.

She too then stood up and walked away.

"Weird." Zack muttered.

Cody sighed as he opened the door to his cabin. He went and plopped himself down on his bed and started to think.  
_She had brown eyes and long, brown hair._

That sentence kept repeating in Cody's mind. He was so confused. If they had met then, wouldn't he remember her? Cody's mind was spinning, so he decided to take a shower and go to bed. The next morning he was even more confused, so he decided to find Moseby and ask him if he could make the Christmas dinner to help him get his mind settled.

Bailey, on the other hand, had figured it out.

_He had blonde hair and blue eyes. _Does Cody have blonde hair blue eyes? She asked herself. Check.

_The Pickett family walked up to the reception desk of the Tipton hotel. _Did Cody used to live in the Tipton? Check.

_He was wearing loose jeans, and a baby blue shirt with a dark blue checkered pattern. _Did Cody used to wear those kinds of things? Check.

_She was still scanning over the lobby, when she spotted a boy around her age. _Was Cody around her age? Check.

_Someone who looked exactly the same walked up to him. _Did Cody have someone who looked exactly the same as him? Check.

_He was so handsome. _Was Cody handsome? Check and mate.

Bailey couldn't believe it.

_Cody was the boy from the Tipton hotel 5 years ago._

The feast that Cody had created was beautiful. It consisted of a perfect turkey and roasted veggies. There were many drinks set out for all the friends. They all had many helpings, even eating after they were very full.

Bailey sighed as Cody sat, laughing with Zack. She knew that he still hadn't figured it out yet, and she wasn't about to say anything.

Bailey stood up and clinked her glass with her spoon. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Bailey.

"I think that we should say thanks, to Cody for making this wonderful dinner." Bailey said.

Everyone nodded in agreement and said their thanks to Cody.

"Also, I think we should share what we are most grateful for." Bailey suggested.

The girls loved this idea, and so did Cody, but the others were a bit skeptical.

"Oh, come on people!" Cody yelled over the loud noises in the room.

Everyone became quiet. "Let's get… Addison to go first!" Bailey said.

"The thing that I am most grateful for is… My family. And not just the people I left at home. I mean you guys too. You all took me and made me fell like one of you." Addison said slowly. Well, slowly for her anyways.

"The thing I am most grateful for is-…" London started but Bailey cut her off.

"It can't have anything to do with money." Bailey warned.

"Bailey, how could you think that?" London asked, fake shocked.

Bailey just rolled her eyes.

"The thing I am most grateful for are… No, the people I am most grateful are Moseby, Maddie, Zack and Cody. You guys are the closest thing I have to family, even closer than my _real _family." London said wisely.

"Seriously? Zack and I? Aww, London! I never knew you felt that way." Cody said happily, getting up to hug his old friend.

"Zack, your go." Bailey said.

"Cody." Was all Zack replied.

"What?" Cody asked confused.

"The thing I am most grateful for is Cody." Zack replied shrugging his shoulders.

"Seriously?" Cody asked incredulously.

"Yeah. You've always been there for me, so why shouldn't I be grateful?" Zack asked. Yeah, he wasn't that good at expressing his feelings.

"Okay. Woody?" Bailey asked.

"Food!... And friends of course" Woody quickly added after everyone started at home. Bailey just shook her head.

"Moseby?" Bailey asked, shaking her head.

"I would have to say all you hooligans." Moseby laughed.

"Aww, Mr. Moseby!" Cody said, leaning over to hug him.

"OK. Cody?" Bailey asked.

"I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but all of you. I don't what I'd do without you all." Cody said. Then everyone turned their heads expectantly at Bailey.

"Hmm… I would have to say all of you guys too. You all took me in… even after you found out I was a girl." She added dryly, directed towards Zack.

"Hey, I'm a man. I have needs" Zack defended himself.

"Whatever!" Bailey laughed, and everyone then started to talk casually.

Bailey left the table silently, and no-one but Cody noticed her leave, so he decided to follow her.

"Ah, I'll be back in a minute." Cody said. He stood up from the table and walked in the same direction as Bailey had gone. He saw her a few feet ahead and slowed down. She walked over to the railing and sighed.

"Why can't he just remember?" she whispered, and her voice carried in the wind.

"Who can't remember what?" Cody asked, coming up behind her.

"Oh, Cody! You scared me!" Bailey said.

"Sorry." He laughed.

"You should be." She said seriously, then bursting into laughter as well.

"So, you didn't answer my question before." Cody pressed lightly.

"Oh. Well, when I was younger, I went to this hotel. The Tipton, I think it was" Bailey said casually. Cody's breath caught in his throat.

"The T-tipton?" He clarified.

"Yeah. When I was there, I saw this boy, right?" she teased.

"He had dirty blonde hair, and these beautiful blue eyes. He was wearing these jeans, and they were loose around his legs. And he was wearing this adorable checkered sweater-vest. Oh, he was so cute! But he turned around and so did I, and when I looked back, he was gone. I was devastated." Bailey sighed.

_Cody turned around, hoping to find the girl, but her and her family had left. _Cody remembered, and his breathing became ragged.

"R-really?" Cody asked.

"Yeah. But you know what I would do if I ever saw that boy again?" Bailey asked, taking a step towards Cody.

"N-…no. What would you do?" Cody stammered, trying to play it cool.

"This." She whispered, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a passionate kiss.

"Bailey…" Cody moans against her soft lips. She pulled away for a second.

"I knew it was you… It was always you." She whispered, then pulled him in yet again for a kiss.

**A/N: The credit can't all go to me. Woundedhearts gave me the idea, and I just wrote the story! **


	7. Snapplelinz II

_**A/N: Just a little something for a very special holiday. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Football On Deck**

**By Snapplelinz **

The eight teenagers were all seated on comfy sofas, cheering like crazy in the final minutes. Then when the siren sounded, most of them began clapping enthusiastically.

"Great game!" Cody cheered brightly.

"There! What did I tell you! I told you that the Lions wouldn't win today! Bill Belichik has really put together a decent squad this year. How 'bout them Patriots, huh?" Zack praised ecstatically, getting up from the sofa he'd been sitting on for the past three hours.

Zack, Maya, Cody, Bailey, Marcus, Addison, Woody and London had begun the festivities for Thanksgiving aboard the S.S. Tipton in a traditionally American manner: taking in some football before Thanksgiving dinner. While the remaining six had cheered and whooped for each team (London was complimenting the cheerleaders on their trendy attire) Zack and Maya had debated and argued all throughout the first game about who had the better chances of winning on Thanksgiving Day: New Hampshire or Detroit. They had been watching the first game of the day inside the games room, which sported a brand new 40-inch plasma screen. Maya watched Zack whooping and cheering and shook her head.

"The Patriots got lucky," Maya scoffed smugly.

"Are you out of your tree? Did you not see that amazing play that Tom Brady made during the first quarter when the Patriots went into that classic Wildcat formation?" Zack demanded impatiently, turning to face Maya as she got up from the sofa too.

"Please! A 5-year old could've figured out that's what they were gonna do! It was so obvious!" Maya snorted contemptuously.

"It wasn't obvious to the Lions! That's why the Patriots scored!" Zack shot back callously.

Marcus, Cody and Bailey laughed appreciatively at this while Woody, Addison and London looked politely puzzled.

"Admit it, you're just worried that the Jets might actually lose to the Bengals in the third game tonight." Zack added malevolently.

"Pfft, there is no way that the Bengals are winning tonight," Cody retorted knowingly.

"Yeah, I'm with Cody. They're just…terrible." Marcus agreed wholeheartedly.

"Am not! The Jets are way better than the Bengals any day of the week. You take that back right now, Zack!" Maya fumed in an annoyed tone.

"Why don't you make me, Maya?"

"You really don't want me to make you."

"I think she could make you," Woody added knowingly.

"You couldn't make me even if they were serving 2:30pm ice cream on the Lido Deck and I was distracted!" Zack shot back callously.

"Guys, quit bickering. It's Thanksgiving! You know, the day to be thankful." Addison interjected vehemently.

"I'll be thankful if the Jets can't score a single touch down at all tonight!" Zack retorted maliciously.

"We so can score a touchdown! After all, we have Mark Sanchez playing at quarterback and he can do unbelievable things with his feet!"

"Yeah, except for one crucial thing: kick! Sanchez couldn't hit a barnyard door from three paces away…if it were placed in the end-zone!" Zack retorted maliciously.

"Just admit it! You're just mad because New Hampshire almost lost their heads in the final quarter and the Lions almost won the game. That's the only reason you're backing the Bengals at all. We both know they're not gonna beat the Jets in the third game tonight!" Maya yelled furiously.

"I am a firm believer in miracles," Zack quipped snidely.

"Here we go," Cody muttered wearily, covering his face to block the worst of what was to come.

"That does it! I'm tired of you constantly dissing my sports teams, Zack! And I'm not gonna take it lying down either!" Maya exclaimed angrily, turning red in the face.

"I can give it to you standing up if you'd prefer it," Zack retorted devilishly.

"You think you're so smart and macho and know everything about football. Well, you're wrong!" Maya shot back loudly.

"Am I? You may think you know a lot about football based on stats alone. But I bet you couldn't put that to the test in a real football game!"

"And I bet you I could!"

"What are you saying? Are you challenging me to a real game?" Zack asked laughingly.

"Please don't challenge him to a real game," Cody begged under his breath.

"Maybe I am," Maya answered with dignity.

"She challenged him to a real game," Cody muttered wearily.

London was watching the entire exchange like a ping-pong rally, her head bobbing back and forth in a comical fashion.

"Maya, baby. Football is a rough game designed to test your stamina and strength to its limits. In essence, it's a man's game." Zack declared in a patronising game.

"And you think a girl can't play your little precious game? We'll see about that," Maya taunted stonily.

"Zack, I can't believe you! I know you have your opinions about sport, but I never thought you'd be so sexist about it." Bailey declared in disbelief.

"Zack's not being sexist, Bailey. It is a statistically proven fact that guys are better at playing contact sports than girls." Cody conceded in a reasonable tone.

"Oh really? Well, I hope you're good at protecting your face when my fist makes contact with it, Cody Martin!" Bailey retorted irately, causing Cody to take a few steps back from her.

"Whoa, time out, people! Why is everybody wasting their time arguing about the Patriots and the Jets? Everybody knows that the Cowboys are gonna come out top of after all three games today!" Marcus joined in confidently.

"Dallas? Marcus, you've gotta be kidding," Bailey scoffed openly.

"Well, they do have a great team and that Jerry Jones really is a man to be respected."

"And what is it that you respect about him exactly? Him or his money? It sounds like you just jumped on the Cowboy bandwagon because they're currently on a winning streak, Marcus." Bailey offered derisively.

"I'll have you know that I've always supported Dallas since I was a little kid, Bailey Pickett!" Marcus fumed indignantly.

Just as Marcus and Bailey began bickering loudly, Woody put his bulky body between them to break up the fight.

"Guys! Maybe Maya's right. Maybe the only way to settle this is to play a real game of football to prove who knows the sport better." Woody suggested quickly.

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, Woody, we're on a boat! What are we gonna use for goalposts? The portholes?" Cody demanded sarcastically.

"You can play out on the Sky Deck. There's plenty of space up there." Addison suggested sensibly.

"But not nearly enough space. What are we gonna do for kicking?" Zack asked impatiently.

"Lose the kicking then and make it a purely running game. That shouldn't be too hard for you, Zack, since you're used to running your mouth." Maya pointed out maliciously.

"Ok, Big Apple, you're on. Boys vs. Girls. The loser has to be the winner's slave for 24 hours on Christmas Day." Zack declared vehemently.

"Deal." Maya agreed readily.

"Wait, Woody and I are playing too?" Marcus asked quizzically.

"Of course we are. This is a classic battle of the sexes, bro. You can't possibly back down," Zack chided knowingly.

"But I don't wanna play! I'm hungry!" Woody whined loudly.

"Quit thinking about your stomach, Woody! There are more important things in life, like proving your worth as a man." Cody replied vehemently.

"You mean like 'Robo Boy' in my comic books? Ok, I'm in." Woody stated readily.

"Wait! What about dinner?" Bailey asked worriedly.

"No worries, we'll be done in plenty of time. It shouldn't take too long to prove to Maya that I'm right." Zack spat smugly.

"I'd like to see you try. Come on girls, let's talk strategy." Maya instructed tersely.

"Wait…I have to play too?" London asked in horror.

"Come on, London. You and Addison have to play," Maya begged.

"Gee, Maya. I'd love to help you out, but football seems kinda…dangerous." Addison remarked anxiously.

"It's not dangerous, Addison. We're more than equipped to play against a bunch of boys…and Cody." Bailey countered wisely.

"Hey!" Cody whined indignantly at Bailey's obvious insult.

"Fine, I'll play. But I'm wearing my finest jewellery and my flashiest Arturo Vertalli boots. Football uniforms are just hideous!" London exclaimed with revulsion.

"Alright, I'll play too. But there won't be any ping pong balls anywhere, right?" Addison asked while her eyes darted frantically about her.

"Don't worry, Addison. You'll be safe from ping pong balls," Bailey reassured smoothly, steering Addison over to the side before rolling her eyes to the sky.

"Wait! I just thought of another problem. There's no way that Mr. Moseby will let us play football on the Sky Deck with the other passengers around. How are we gonna get rid of him?" Marcus asked quickly.

"Not to worry, Mr. Little. I have a plan," Zack announced slyly.

* * *

Mr. Moseby began laughing hysterically at Zack and Cody's suggestion.

"Good one, Zack! But it's Thanksgiving; you really should save your best jokes for April fool's," Moseby declared hoarsely while mopping tears off his face with his handkerchief.

"We're not kidding, Mr. Moseby. We want you to let us play 4-on-4 football on the Sky Deck." Cody reiterated patiently.

"Have you lost your mind? I can't let you hooligans run amok on the ship while it's moving at full steam ahead. Why if the football lodges itself in the deck! You could sink the whole ship!" Moseby shrieked in horror while he pictured it in his mind's eye.

"If you let us play, we won't ask London to tell Mr. Tipton about that time you left the ship unsupervised to go to a reunion of your old roller-skating buddies." Cody declared slyly.

"That's preposterous! Besides, I wouldn't have left the boat if Zack and Marcus hadn't been trying to get rid of me so they could throw a party for the models on board!" Moseby fumed angrily.

"But Mr. Tipton doesn't know that. And he would be oh so disappointed if he found out that his favourite Tipton employee was so careless…especially while London was on board too." Zack replied evilly.

"Ooh, you're good." Moseby conceded reluctantly.

"Very well, I'll let you play your silly little football game on the Sky Deck. But you are not allowed to ever use that form of blackmail on me again…if you value your lives." He added in a dangerously low voice.

"Deal! Thanks, Mr. Moseby! You're ok in my books!" Zack exclaimed happily, moving towards Mr. Moseby for a hug.

"Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" Moseby yelled while fending off Zack's attempts at affection.

* * *

The eight Seven Seas students assembled on the Sky Deck, dressed and ready to play football 30 minutes later. Zack was sporting his favourite Patriots jersey that he'd purchased back in Boston with exaggerated padding, making his shoulders look even broader than usual, along with a pair of khaki board shorts and a pair of sneakers on his feet. Like Zack, Maya was wearing her favourite Jets jersey along with a pair of black ski pants and sneakers and two lines of black paint under her eyes. Cody was wearing a plain white baggy T-shirt and green baggy training shorts with his sneakers. Bailey was wearing a worn-looking faded blue T-shirt which hugged her chest along with comfortable blue sweat pants and sneakers, her long brown-blonde hair tied into a neat ponytail. Marcus was wearing all-black for the occasion: black T-shirt, black shorts and black basketball sneakers.

Woody and Addison had opted for similar attire: multi-coloured head bands (which looked particularly comical covering Woody's curly afro), multi-coloured T-shirts, Addison sporting cute hot pants while Woody sported grey sweat pants and they were both wearing multi-coloured high-top sneakers along with a host of leg and arm bands. And finally, London wasn't wearing any athletic attire at all. She was wearing a white tank top with glittery insignia on the front, flashy-looking silver pedal pushers with ankle-high 4-inch Arturo Vertalli boots, a sparkly silver bracelet and a silver scarf tied through her luscious black locks.

All of the deck chairs and the buffet table had been moved to the side and Cody and Zack had quickly constructed field lines with a wad of white masking tape beforehand. The passengers on deck stood on the sidelines watching the scene in confusion while Mr. Moseby stood between the four boys and girls, a grim expression on his face and a megaphone in his hand.

"Attention, everyone! I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your relaxation time on the Sky Deck. But these eight students of Seven Seas Academy have sportingly agreed to participate in an impromptu game of friendly 4-on-4 Thanksgiving football for your viewing pleasure. Please stick around for the turkey sandwiches being served at the buffet table. That is all," Moseby signed off with composed eloquence.

"Mr. Moseby, is any of what you just said true?" Ms. Tutweiller asked curiously, having come forward after Moseby's speech to the crowd.

"Not in the least, except for the 'playing football' part. Now, let's go over the rules," Moseby began gravely while addressing the group of teenagers.

"Rules? What rules?" Zack asked in awe.

"Mr. Moseby, this is a friendly football game, like you said. And we're not even playing all the different formations like in a regular game," Bailey added knowingly.

"True, but to avoid cheating as much as possible where Zack Martin is concerned, a few guidelines are in order. There will be no eye-gouging, no fish-hooking of any kind and no tossing anyone overboard if one of you doesn't get your way," Moseby began formally while shooting London a suspicious look, who was busy admiring her nails.

"Are we clear?" Moseby asked sternly of Zack and Maya, who had been nominated as team captains.

"Crystal," they murmured in unison without taking their eyes off of each other.

"Good. Let's begin." Moseby concluded before marching off to the sidelines to join Ms. Tutweiller.

"You really think they're going to keep things clean, Mr. M?" Emma asked curiously.

"Of course not. But my money's on the girls," Moseby replied with an evil smirk on his face.

The boys and girls were currently grouped in their various huddles, discussing their strategy for the game.

"Ok, we're starting off with defensive play, so we've gotta mark the girls as closely as possible. I'll cover Maya; Cody, you cover Bailey; Woody, you cover Addison and Marcus, you cover London," Zack instructed rapidly.

"Wait, I can't cover London, Zack. How am I supposed to get my mack on that way?" Marcus asked impatiently.

"Simple: you're covering her. So you're the only one who can lay down some mack around London," Zack replied slyly.

"Good point," Marcus praised, matching Zack's tone.

"But I can't cover Addison! She's a girl!" Woody exclaimed suddenly.

"Relax, Wood-mite. Just make sure she doesn't run past you," Zack advised patronisingly.

"Ok, here's the deal. The guys are gonna try to mark us as closely as possible. So whatever play we decide to run, we've gotta confuse them as much as possible. I'll take care of Zack; Bailey, you get rid of Cody. Addison, you distract Woody." Maya advised slowly.

"How am gonna do that?" Addison asked quizzically.

"Smile at him. That should do the trick." Bailey advised knowingly.

"What about me? What do I do?" London questioned curiously.

"London, I have a very special play for you. You're gonna go…long." Maya replied mysteriously.

"Where's 'long'? Is it in the same place as 'hiding'?" London asked in confusion.

"Close. I want you to stay as far back by our own end-zone at all times," Maya responded smoothly.

"Ok," London agreed rapidly.

"I hope that shoulder padding of yours is good," Maya noted when she and Zack faced off once more.

"Why's that?" Zack asked slowly.

"You're gonna need it for when I knock you flat on your back." Maya sneered venomously.

Zack watched Maya get into position as Bailey prepared to hike the ball to her.

"Oh, it's on." He murmured more to himself with an evil glint in his eye.

* * *

The first portion of the game was fairly standard insofar as game-play went. Between Maya's good throwing and Bailey's quick running, the girls were gaining a lot of yards en route to the end-zone. Even Addison was doing her bit by shrugging Woody off during intervals whenever he tried to block her. London was still standing by the end-goal line, admiring her nails and completely oblivious to the game in front of her.

By the time the two teams switched over, the guys and the girls were tied for one touchdown each. After Marcus had hiked the ball to Zack, he managed to get an excellent pass off to Cody, who blew past Bailey on his way to the goal line. And when he reached the end-zone, he stood on the spot and began doing a crazy jig in celebration with ball in hand, which resembled 'The Running Man'. In retaliation for Cody's obnoxious behaviour, Bailey came up behind him and tackled him viciously onto his stomach. Then she did a crazy dance of her own.

While the game continued on, London was still standing off to the side, this time with an ice-cream cone in her hand that she had procured from the buffet table during one of the break-downs in the play. While she was busy eating, a seagull flying overhead left her an extra topping on top of her ice-cream.

"Ew!" London shrieked in horror and flung the ice-cream as far away from her as possible.

The ice-cream flew in mid-air and hit a middle-aged male passenger smack in the chest on his floral print shirt. The man, who had been walking aimlessly about, glanced at the mess on his shirt before glancing suspiciously up at the sky in turn.

* * *

When the score had reached 21-21, tactics were completely thrown out of the window as both teams became more decidedly sneakier in their attempts to distract each other. When Addison had thrown the ball to Maya during their offensive manoeuvre, Zack came up behind her and pulled down her pants, revealing her black boy shorts underneath. In her mortification, Maya's cheeks turned pink from embarrassment mingled with fury while she abandoned the game for a few seconds while she chased Zack around the length of the deck.

Besides a few underhanded tactics, the boys began doing exceptionally well at a particular juncture in the second quarter. Marcus passed the ball to Zack, who began sprinting forward. He just managed to side-step Maya en route to the touchline. Addison, who was watching Zack's progress, suddenly sprinted forward towards him with the intention of tackling him. Zack saw Addison coming from a few paces away and got ready to sprint away from her when she took him completely by surprise by grabbing him around the waist.

Both the boys and girls (including London), stopped what they were doing and watched as Addison kept hold of Zack's middle and kept running around him in a circle, screaming like a caged beast with no intention of stopping what she was doing. Zack, who was far too surprised by Addison's strange tackling method, could only stand there for a few seconds with ball in hand watching as Addison continued sprinting around him, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

* * *

When they began play once more for the girls' offensive strategy, Bailey fed the ball to Maya, who got ready to make a pass. She dodged Zack's attempts to tackle her and threw the ball into Addison's waiting arms. Cody came running towards her as she made her way to the end-zone. Without thinking twice about it, Addison swung her arm forward and caught Cody on the stomach, sending him toppling onto his back. Then she breezed right past him and threw the ball down onto the line with a triumphant smile on her face.

"I love this game!" she exclaimed while clapping her hands ecstatically.

Woody helped a disgruntled Cody onto his feet and the boys huddled up while shooting glares in the girls' direction.

"Girls, huddle up. It's second down," Maya announced briskly.

Zack, who had overheard her announcement, frowned in confusion.

"No it's not. It's third down, Maya." He amended seriously.

"Um, I think I would recall if it was third down already. It's definitely second." Maya continued assuredly.

"Wow, you really would do anything to win, wouldn't ya?" Zack questioned in a snide tone.

"What are you talking about? It's second down," Maya persisted defensively, getting visibly annoyed with Zack's insinuation.

"Ok, whatever you say, Maya. Let's make it second down, since you're intent on cheating your way to the top." Zack declared maliciously.

"Perfect, let's keep playing," Marcus agreed rapidly, ready to continue with the game.

"Don't bother, Zack. Since you obviously can't play football without cheating, let's make it third down instead." Maya shot back impatiently.

"Aw, but making it third down will make it harder for us to score," Addison complained wearily.

"Relax, Addison. We don't need to stoop to Zack's level. We can win this, trust me." Maya concluded assuredly.

* * *

A few minutes later, the girls stood in a huddle, looking positively exhausted and glum. And it didn't help that the boys were doing an obvious celebratory dance in imitation of Soulja Boi a few feet away after scoring yet another touchdown.

"I think it's time to take drastic measures," Maya began cryptically in a low voice, turning her eyes away from Zack's annoying smirk.

"What do you mean?" Addison asked wearily.

"The guys are gonna win this and they're gonna rub it in our faces for months. We can't let that happen; our reputation as strong and independent women depends on this." Maya replied painstakingly.

"I want to win just as much as you do, Maya. But we're just girls. What can we do against guys who are stronger and faster than us?" Addison asked anxiously.

"Daddy always says that all rich, powerful and arrogant men have one weakness in common. And that's a beautiful woman." London declared unexpectedly, causing the other three girls to stare at her in awe.

"London, that's brilliant!" Bailey congratulated heartily.

"What did I say?" London asked in confusion.

"You just gave us a strategy to win the game! Maybe we can't outrun the guys, but we can distract them just long enough for us to score." Maya answered cleverly.

"So what do we do?" Addison asked curiously.

Bailey and Maya locked eyes with one another, each thinking the same thing.

"We're gonna give the guys something to sweat about," Maya declared evilly.

* * *

The boys were back on the offensive once more and Maya put her plan into action. Marcus passed the ball to a surprised Woody, who began running forward. Zack and Cody were effectively blocking Bailey and Maya, which just left Addison near the front to get past. But instead of covering Woody, Addison was casually standing off to the side, idly twirling a strand of her brown hair around her index finger and unabashedly batting her eyelids at Woody. Woody saw this and stopped dead in his tracks to stare at Addison.

"Hi," Addison greeted seductively.

"Hey," Woody greeted back slowly.

Addison took that as her cue to move forward and take the ball right out of Woody's limp hands, leaving Woody standing there with a goofy grin on his face.

"Woody! Wake up!" Cody called out impatiently.

"Huh? What just happened?" Woody asked stupidly, looking around him frantically.

"You just got PWNed by a girl, my friend." Marcus noted while patting Woody sympathetically on the arm.

Marcus found out just how true that statement was a few minutes later when Maya surprised everyone by putting London up front in close proximity to Marcus instead of keeping her at the back like usual. After Cody fed Zack the ball, Marcus was getting ready to sprint towards the end-zone when he caught sight of London coming towards him. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her at all during the game and was secretly pleased that he was finally getting an opportunity to do so.

"Hey, Marcus!" London greeted brightly, flashing pearly whites at him.

"Why…hello, beautiful! I was wondering when you were gonna come over to talk to me!" Marcus exclaimed delightedly.

"You could've come over to talk to me, Marky-poo. I was just oh some wonely out back," London purred in a babyish voice.

"Oh no! Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Marcus asked smoothly while giving London a subtle once-over.

Zack, who'd been fed the ball by Cody from the scrimmage, tossed the ball at Marcus, who was supposed to be standing at the ready to receive it. Instead, Marcus got hit hard in the face; the ball bounced straight off his head and rolled out into touch into dead-ball territory.

"Marcus! What are you doing? London's trying to distract you! Get your head in the game!" Zack scolded reproachfully at Marcus, who was lying on his back on the ground.

"No more music deals for me! I just wanna lead a normal life," Marcus mumbled stupidly, still clearly in a stupefied daze.

In spite of the girls' tactics, the guys were gaining momentum and more yards as the clock slowly ran down for the third quarter. Growing desperate at Zack making a break for the goal line, both Bailey and Maya sprinted after him. Bailey jumped onto Zack's back while Maya grabbed at his ankles to bring him down. To Zack's credit, he managed to stay on his feet and began dragging both Maya and Bailey in the direction of the touchline while they held on tightly to him.

After Zack scored yet again, Woody had the ball in his hands once more. Seeing this, Addison went for broke and began chasing after Woody.

"Woody, I really like you! Will you go out with me!" she began screaming wildly.

"Quit distracting me, Addison! I'm begging you, leave me be!" Woody exclaimed painstakingly.

But Addison's words had the desired effect as Woody completely bypassed the end-zone and collided with a waiter on the Sky Deck, sending both of them crashing into the buffet table and upsetting the contents.

"Mr. Moseby! The girls are using their physical appeal to distract the boys. Aren't you going to do anything?" Ms. Tutweiller asked in a horrified tone.

"Yes I am, Ms. Tutweiller!" Moseby exclaimed in a ringing tone, grabbing the megaphone resting next to his deck chair.

"Keep going, ladies! Wave the flag for feminism!" Moseby cheered unabashedly.

"Mr. Moseby!" Emma exclaimed in a scandalised voice.

"What? I told you I wanted the girls to win this one. Nobody blackmails Marion Moseby and gets away with it!" Moseby shouted indignantly in Zack and Cody's direction while shaking his fist at them.

* * *

There were a few minutes left to go on the clock in the fourth and final quarter. The passengers who had stuck around to watch the game were cheering wildly for both teams, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Even though both sides had played supremely well all game long, both the girls and boys were exhausted. The score was now 42-47 with the boys in the lead. The girls were back to playing offensive and needed one more touch down to win the game.

"Ok, girls. Huddle up," Maya called out wearily.

"Oh no, this is our last huddle," Addison noted dejectedly.

"We've got one more play to run before time's up. We've gotta make this count if we're gonna beat the guys," Maya added anxiously.

"With what? We've used some of our best moves; they've got us covered from every side." Bailey replied despairingly.

"We can't give up, there has to be a way," Addison declared encouragingly.

"Hey, why don't you use me?" London asked unexpectedly.

"I don't know about that, London," Bailey responded doubtfully.

"Come on, I've been standing at the back the whole time and I'm bored. Use me, the guys never cover me," London pleaded.

"London, there's a reason why they're not covering you," Maya reminded knowingly.

"Come on, Maya! I wanna beat the boys just as much as the rest of you. I can catch the ball." London persisted persuasively.

"Come on, girls. Put London up front to catch the ball, she can do it." Addison added sincerely.

"Ok, London. Go up front and wait for me to throw the ball to you," Maya relented reluctantly.

"Yay me!" London exclaimed happily before skipping forward.

"I hope I don't regret this," Maya murmured to herself.

"Are you ready to lose, ladies?" Marcus called out in an obnoxious tone.

"Don't worry, we'll go easy on you so you can save your pride. After all, it's Thanksgiving. We still want you to have something to be thankful for," Zack joined in teasingly.

Then the final play of the game began. Bailey fed the ball to Maya and began blocking Cody. London sprinted forward towards the end-zone while Addison ran through the middle. Maya was beginning to have some doubts about passing London the ball, so she began sizing up her choices. But things weren't looking good at all for the girls. Woody was blocking Addison so that she couldn't get to the ball. To Maya's horror, Maya noted that both Marcus was holding Bailey's hands behind her back while Cody blatantly covered her mouth with his hands. And to make matters worse, Zack was barrelling towards Maya like a freight train, a manic glint in his eyes while he began yelling like a warrior in the middle of the battle.

And still London stood, without a defender in sight near the end-zone, waving her hands frantically in the air, signalling for Maya to throw the ball to her. Maya shook her head ruefully and tossed the ball high in the air just as Zack landed on her and threw her forcefully to the ground. The ball began flying seamlessly through the air. A hushed silence fell over the passengers and the players as they watched the ball's progress in mid-air. Cody even took his hand off of Bailey's mouth to stare in awe at the distance the ball was making. London saw the ball sailing towards her and began jogging backwards as she prepared to catch it. Time froze for a moment as both Zack and Maya lay on the ground and watched as the ball began its descent downwards.

Then the ball landed neatly in London's outstretched arms and she was positioned right in front of the end-zone line. With a look of delight on her face, London tossed the ball behind her with a triumphant air. Bailey, Addison and Maya rushed towards her and began hugging her tightly while they celebrated. They stopped the celebration when they realised that the boys were celebrating too.

"What are you celebrating for? We just won the game," Maya noted in bewilderment.

"Actually, Doll-Face, when London tossed the ball behind her, she was still about five feet away from the end-zone. So technically…we win!" Zack announced smugly as he and the boys continued cheering.

"Wait a minute, I don't understand. If London didn't score a touchdown, but no one tagged her either…isn't the ball still live?" Addison asked tentatively.

Everyone stared at the ball lying a few feet away as if it was on fire. Then all of them raced to the ball like crazy people, Zack and Maya leading the pack. The two of them jumped on the ball first and the remaining six teenagers jumped on top of them, forming a massive pile-up.

"Let's go, it's my ball!" Maya yelled angrily at Zack.

"Your ball? I bought this ball!" Zack shouted back.

"Well tough! I got to it first!" Maya shot back.

"Did not! I did!" Zack screamed.

"No, I did!"

"No, I did!"

"Boy, I'm getting sick of this constant bickering." Marcus complained irritably.

"Me too," Bailey agreed, matching his tone.

"They're about to serve Thanksgiving dinner now," Moseby announced gaily, coming up behind them.

"Finally! I'm starving!" Woody exclaimed eagerly.

"Me too!" Addison agreed readily, following after Woody.

London stared at Zack and Maya arguing amongst themselves, shook her head and walked away with Marcus, followed by Bailey and Cody.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, the food's so good! My compliments to the chef!" Marcus noted earnestly through a mouthful of turkey.

"Well, I may have helped a little with preparing the stuffing," Cody noted with a trace of pride in his voice.

"Well, I take my hat off to you, Cody." Marcus praised sincerely of his friend.

"Thanks, buddy." Cody answered, bumping fists with Marcus.

The six teenagers were seated in the dining room with Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller and the other passengers enjoying a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner together.

"This really is an amazing dinner that the staff put together," London stated sincerely.

"It looks you guys worked up quite an appetite playing football earlier," Ms. Tutweiller noted with a small smile on her face.

"Tell me about it. I'm exhausted." Cody replied wearily.

"Me too. Playing football is dirty and hard," London agreed, matching his tone.

"Well, you all played marvellously this afternoon, especially that final play, London." Mr. Moseby declared earnestly while fixing London with a look of deep pride.

"But I didn't make the touchdown," London pouted despondently.

"That doesn't matter. You all still played a great game that was a lot of fun and you played together as a team. That's something to be proud of," Moseby answered sincerely.

"You're right, Mr. Moseby. I did have a great time playing football. And I'm thankful for having great friends to play the game with," Marcus declared earnestly.

He locked eyes with London, Addison, Cody, Bailey and Woody. They all looked at each other and smiled warmly in turn.

"And we almost ruined it with our whole 'battle of the sexes' argument. I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time on the field, Cody." Bailey declared apologetically.

"It's ok, I'm sorry too. I was kinda being a jerk," Cody replied warmly while giving Bailey a quick and friendly hug.

"I'm sorry I distracted you out on the field, Woody." Addison apologised while turning to face Woody.

"It's cool. I would've done the same thing if I were as pretty as you," Woody responded sincerely.

"Wait, that came out wrong," he added sheepishly a second later.

"Actually, it came out perfectly to me," Addison noted demurely before kissing a surprised Woody on the cheek.

"That was beautiful," Ms. Tutweiller noted with a sniffle while she blew her nose.

"I'd say I'm sorry too for letting you get hit in the head with the ball, but I'm not." London announced brightly to Marcus.

"That's cool, London. I wouldn't expect anything less from you." Marcus replied with a winning smile on his face.

"I can't believe Zack and Maya are still outside grappling for the ball," Bailey commented pensively.

"Yeah, it's already dark outside. It must be freezing," Cody added worriedly while glancing at his watch.

"They must be starving too. Do you think we should take some food out to them?" Addison asked genially.

"Why not finish your food, Addison? There's still plenty of food for those two whenever they finally decide to come inside and enjoy it," Moseby responded sensibly while tucking into his yams.

* * *

"Let go! It's my ball!" Zack yelled furiously.

"No way! I got it to first!" Maya shouted back.

The two of them were still sprawled out on the Sky Deck, clutching Zack's baseball between the two of them. It was close to 8pm and the deck lights had already been switched on; they were very much alone.

"I can't believe that everyone just left without us," Maya mused in disappointment.

"I know. I guess they just don't care enough about football like we do," Zack replied in a disgruntled manner.

"Tell me about it," Maya agreed.

"Hey, Maya! Check it out!"

"What?"

"Look at the sky! It's starting to snow!"

Maya followed Zack's gaze and looked above her. Sure enough, there were tiny white snowflakes floating down towards them from the indigo sky overhead.

"Wow, that's beautiful." Maya mused in awe, her hair covered with white flecks of snow.

"It really is," Zack agreed softly.

Then the two of them locked eyes with each other before glancing down at the ball between.

"Gimme the ball!" Maya shouted impatiently.

"No way! It's my ball! You let go!" Zack shot back furiously as they continued bickering.

* * *

_**A/N: This oneshot is dedicated to one of my favourite Thanksgiving episodes of my favourite sitcom, "Friends" called "The One With The Football" (season 3). I hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving, God bless : )**_


	8. James Doyle II

**Festivus for the Rest of Us**

**By**

**James Doyle**

On December 18, Zack Martin worked the smoothie counter, as usual. Equally predictable was the arrival of his long-time friend and benefactor London Tipton. What did catch Zack's attention was the fact that London looked particularly glum, especially for this time of year.

"Hey London," greeted Zack, "What can I do you for?"

"Whatever you've got in the blender is fine," replied London.

"Are you sure?" cautioned Zack.

"Just give it to me," demanded London.

"Alright," relented Zack. "You asked for it."

London took one sip of the vile vomit-green concoction before turning her head and spitting it out.

"What is this crap?" reviled London.

"Garlic and parsley," informed Zack. "It's something Cody thinks will align his chakra, or something like that."

"The only alignment that boy needs is to pull his head out of his rear end," snarked London.

"No argument there," agreed Zack. "So what's got you so bummed?"

"I'm not bummed," denied London. "What makes you think I'm bummed?"

"Normally, you're bounding around the deck like a kangaroo around Christmastime," commented Zack.

London sighed. "What's the point? My dad won't be able to visit – big surprise, there – and I've never been particularly religious."

"There's always presents," argued Zack.

"How is that any different than any other time of year for me?" countered London.

Zack nodded solemnly. "I guess I can see why you wouldn't be too enthused about it."

Wanting to cheer his friend up, he made her another smoothie.

"Here ya go," he offered, handing London the drink. "Banana Fofana smoothie, on the house."

"Zack, I already don't pay for anything on this ship," noted London.

"It's the thought that counts," argued Zack.

"Yeah, I suppose," conceded London. "Thanks for trying, Zack."

"You know," mused Zack, "If you're not feeling Christmas this year, maybe we could try a different holiday."

"Chanukah? Dawali? Kwanzaa?" listed London. "Been there, done that!"

"Ah, but have you tried Festivus?" asked Zack.

"What the heck is that?" asked London.

From thence, Zack proceeded to explain the details of the holiday. He had to review a few items several times, but eventually, London got the gist.

"You made this up," accused London.

"No, I didn't," insisted Zack. "It's secular holiday with a rich history and tradition."

"Really, Zack?"

"Alright," conceded Zack. "I saw it on a rerun of _Seinfeld_."

"Ah, who cares," dismissed London. "It sounds like a great idea."

"Awesome!" approved Zack. "Let's get started."

Five days later, Cody, Maya, Bailey, Woody, Moseby, Tutweiller, and Addison arrived as instructed to one of the ship's private dining rooms, where Zack and London awaited them.

"Welcome, ladies and germs," greeted Zack, "To the first annual S.S. Tipton celebration of Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us!"

"Are you serious?" Bailey asked in disbelief. "Where are all the decorations? Where's the Christmas tree?"

Zack walked over to an aluminum pole about his height, tapping on it lightly with his knuckles.

"The traditional Festivus decoration is an aluminum pole," explained Zack. "It eliminates the hassle and distractions associated with the usual holiday decorations."

"Aluminum is a good choice," noted Cody. "It has a very high strength-to-weight ratio."

"Plus, the cats won't get into it as much," added Emma.

"Correct, and correct," affirmed Zack. "Now if you'll all have a seat, we'll serve the traditional Festivus meal."

The group gathered around the table, where the wait staff brought out a meal consisting of meatloaf, biscuits, green beans, vegetable soup, and a garden salad.

"Begging your pardon," commented Emma, "But what's so special about this meal?"

"Absolutely nothing!" exclaimed London with a clap of her hands. "That's the beauty of it!"

The group passed the food around and began eating, making idle chit-chat as they did.

"So Cody," said Woody, "Did you see what happened to Mr. Corman today? He keeled over dead, but then he got back up."

"It's a Festivus miracle!" declared Zack.

"No, it's not," argued Cody. "Corman has a defibrillator. That thing goes off at least three times a day. Everybody knows that."

"I got an A on my math test the other day," announced London.

"Another Festivus miracle!" declared Zack.

"Yeah, Tutweiller was so hung over, she gave anyone an A who didn't speak," Bailey whispered to Woody, who snickered and nodded in agreement.

Dinner finished, and apple pie and ice cream were served for dessert.

"Alright, everyone," announced London. "It's time for the Airing of Grievances. Anything you've got against anybody, now's the time to get it out in the open. Who wants to start?"

London rolled her eyes as Cody jumped up and down. "Cody, go ahead," she groaned.

"Woody, I really wish you'd take your Lactaid pills before eating ice cream," griped Cody.

"Sorry," apologized Woody. "There's not always time."

"No, no, no," scolded Zack. "You're supposed to say a grievance you have."

"Okay..." began Woody. "Cody, I'm sick of you using my razor blades to shave your legs."

"Eww!" the rest of the group reviled in unison.

"And Zack," continued Cody, not waiting for acknowledgement. "I'm sick of the way you rub your relationship with Maya in my face."

"Now you just shut your hole..." protested Maya.

"And Miss Tutweiller," continued Cody, cutting Maya off. "Your lesson plans belong in a juvenile hall classroom, not in an elite school-at-sea program."

"You ungrateful little..." began Tutweiller, only to be cut off by Cody.

"And Addison," he continued. "Would you _please _slow down when you talk? I get tired just trying to listen."

"Oh, like I ever..." countered Addison, also to be cut off.

"And London," persisted Cody, "Could you at least _try _to keep up in class? Some of us actually _want _to be here, and are sick of being held back by do-nothings like you."

London gasped, genuinely offended by Cody's grievance.

"And Moseby..." continued Cody, before having Zack hold a hand over his mouth.

"Cody," said Zack. "I'm sick of you constantly acting like you're better than us and being such a know-it-all. And it burns me the way you treated Bailey; the way you _still _treat Bailey, even though she's trying to be your friend. And you know what else I'm sick of? I'm sick of listening to your belly-aching. It's someone else's turn. Bailey, you go."

"Um...okay..." Bailey began reluctantly. "London, I really wish you didn't insult me all the time."

"Well, I wouldn't have to if you didn't wear those hideous outfits," retorted London.

"Unlike you, I don't have the gross national product of Sweden to spend on clothes," defended Bailey.

London scoffed. "So you're saying it's my fault that you're poor?"

"I'm not poor," protested Bailey. "My parents paid my tuition for Seven Seas High _in cash_. Not everybody who has less money than you is poor. And besides, why should I dress based on your sense of aesthetics? I wear what I like. Honestly, what's so bad about my outfits?"

"You look gorgeous in them, and you didn't pay hardly anything for them," revealed London. "I can't look better than you no matter how much money I spend. It's not fair!"

"Well, fine," retorted Bailey. "Nobody said you had to look at me."

"As long as I'm in this stupid sea school, I do," argued London.

"You don't _have _to be here," countered Bailey. "You're almost 21. Quit school, get your GED, do whatever tickles your fancy!"

"If I do that, daddy will cut me off," explained London, beginning to cry. "And if that happens, then what? I can't do anything useful."

The entire group stood in stunned silence. The nature of the grievances had gotten much more personal than most of them were comfortable with.

"Oh, London," sighed Bailey. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it," sniffled London. "It's all part of the festivities."

"I think perhaps this would be a good place to end the Airing of Grievances," suggested Moseby.

"Agreed," said Zack. "The final event in the celebration of Festivus is the Feats of Strength. In order to bring an official end to the festivities, our host, London, must be defeated in a wrestling match."

"London, are you sure you're up to this?" asked Bailey.

"Oh, quit worrying about me," dismissed London, having regained her composure. "I'll make this easy. Woody, you're up first."

Woody followed London to the mats, and took position opposite her.

"Ready..." signaled Zack, "_Fight!"_

Woody hoped to take London out with a simple tackle. Woody did manage to get her on the mats, only to be tossed overhead as tried to land on her. With Woody stunned and laying on the mats, London threw herself in the air and landed on Woody full-force. Moaning in pain, the rotund young man passed out.

"And the celebration continues," declared Zack. "London, another contender, please."

London's next victim was Addison. The petite young lady put up an amazing fight, but in the end, London managed to pin her out of sheer exhaustion. Next came Cody. To his surprise, London just stood there, so he circled around and tried to take her down. London yawned nonchalantly as the blond young man tried in vain to move her a single inch. Finally, he let go and attempted a frontal attack. London gave him a light shove, which caused him to fall to the mat. Seeing London poised to land on him, and not wanting to actually experience it, Cody immediately tapped out.

Moseby and Emma had duties to attend to, and were thus excused from participating in the match. This put Maya in the next slot. The New Yorker managed to take the heiress down several times, but she refused to stay down. Eventually, Maya got tired, and London had her pinned. As soon as she got up, she whispered something in Zack's ear.

"Hey, you know what," declared Zack. "I forfeit."

"Hey, wait," protested London. "You can't-"

"Happy Festivus," interrupted Zack as Maya dragged him out the door.

With everyone else gone, only Bailey and London remained.

"London, we don't have to do this," urged Bailey.

"If we don't, the celebration won't be over," argued London.

"Screw the celebration!" retorted Bailey. "It's a stupid, made-up holiday."

"Maybe," granted London. "But you've obviously got a lot of hostility towards me. What do you say we settle things right here and now?"

"Fine," agreed Bailey. "What are the terms?"

"If I win, I get the room to myself, and you have to sleep in Tutweiller's cat room," wagered London.

"And if I win, I get my closet back, and you're not allowed to say anything mean-spirited about me to me or anyone else. Ever."

London hesitated for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "Deal."

"Deal," agreed Bailey.

With that, the two girls charged at each other. With Bailey at a significant weight advantage, London fell to the mats first. Not to be deterred, she hooked her legs around Bailey's and took her down as well. London got back up, and prepared to land on Bailey, only for the farm girl to catch the heiress with her large foot and send her back to the mat. Bailey dove toward London, only to have the heiress catch her and throw her onto the mat beside her, rolling on top of her as she did so.

Bailey struggled for a way to throw London off of her, but realized she was pinned.

"Looks like you win," capitulated Bailey.

It was only then that London began to be affected by the sweaty, flustered look on her younger friend's face, combined with her hot breath on her lips.

"I changed my mind about what I want," declared London.

"Name it," agreed Bailey, in no position to argue.

With that, London closed her eyes and crashed her lips against Bailey's. Bailey struggled for a moment, but then relented and accepted her kiss, parting her lips and allowing the Asian beauty to explore with her tongue. It was by far the best kiss Bailey had ever experienced, and it left her nearly breathless as their lips parted.

"Now do you understand why I needed to stay?" asked London.

"I had no idea," panted Bailey.

"Now you know," declared London.

With that, Bailey took London by the back of the head and went in for another kiss. Little did they know, Woody and Addison were on the deck just outside, watching through a porthole.

"Now that's what I call a Festivus Miracle," declared Woody.

**The End**

_Festivus is a real holiday, created in 1966, and brought into the popular consciousness by the 1997 _Seinfeld _episode "The Strike". Artistic liberties have been taken._

_Thanks for reading!_


	9. CuttieGirll57 I

**Gift of a Friend**

**By CuttieGirll57  
**

It's Christmas Eve. Some of the students on the S.S. Tipton went home for Holidays, but most of them stayed on the ship.

Bailey went to her and London's cabin. She and Cody helped with the decorating earlier, so she wanted some rest.

"Hey London, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Just getting rid of the junk." her roommate answered. Bailey rolled her eyes. London always throws away her old things, even if they're still good. According to her, if it's old, then it's junk.

Bailey looked at her wrist and froze. _Oh my gosh, I hope I didn't lose it._

"Um...London, have you seen a bracelet around here?" she asked, hoping London had found it.

"Bailey, I have seen lots of bracelets, just look at my hands!" She showed her bracelets.

"No, I'm talking about _my _bracelet."

"What bracelet?"

"You know, the one I started to wear three weeks ago? After I visited my hometown?"

"Doesn't ring a bell." London simply said.

"It's simple, small and has a brown color." Bailey reminded her.

"Oh, _that _one? I threw it away!" London told her. Bailey froze.

"Y-you did _what_?" Bailey asked shocked.

"I _said_, I threw it away!" London said, thinking her roommate hadn't heard her. Bailey was so shocked that she didn't know what to do.

"Why?" was all she could ask.

"It was junk, so I got rid of it. Duh!"

"Junk? London, you could have asked me if I don't need it. Which I do!"

"Why? It's so ugly!" London took a look at Bailey. "Well, it doesn't really surprise me." Bailey decided to ignore the last comment.

"That bracelet was the last thing I have left from _her_."

"From who?"

"Oh, forget it!" Bailey shouted as she got out of the room.

London just stood on her bed, confused. _Why would she get so upset? It's not like it was a cute bracelet or something! _She took her purse, then realized something. _Oh, I get it!_

A few hours later, Bailey was on the Sky Deck. Zack and Cody approached her.

"Hey, Bailey." greeted Zack.

"Something wrong?" asked Cody.

"No, everything's ok." she lied.

"You look a little down." Cody told her.

"I just got into a fight with London, that's all."

"Well, that's not something unusual." Zack said. Right then, London came. "Speaking of London..."

"Hey Bailey!" she greeted. Bailey didn't answer, and didn't even look at her. "Now I know why you're so upset!"

"Oh yeah? Why?" Bailey said.

"Because," London continued, "You had to pay for that bracelet...even if I don't understand why, so I'll give you the money." When Bailey heard this, she got even more angrier. "So how much did it cost?"

"London, I don't _want_ your money!" But she didn't listen.

"Oh whatever, I'll just give you this." She took some money out of her purse. Bailey must admit, it is a lot of money. But she didn't care.

"Just leave me alone!" she shouted. London stared at her, looking hurt.

"Fine...but it was your only chance!" London said. "I bet you're not getting any presents tomorrow. You've been a _bad_ girl." she added as a joke. Bailey just stormed off. Cody went after her.

"Wow, you really did something bad to get her that angry!" Zack said before he followed Bailey and Cody.

London thought about it. _Did I really do something so bad?_

"Bailey, wait!" Cody shouted, running after her, with Zack behind him. "What happened?"

"London threw away my bracelet. That's all." she said.

"Oh c'mon, you wouldn't get so upset about something like this." Zack said. "There's more to that bracelet than you told anyone, isn't it?" Bailey looked down.

"Bailey, just tell us what's making you upset." Cody told her.

"Fine, I'll tell you."

In the evening, London was in her room, still thinking about earlier. Bailey wasn't there, she was still helping with the decorations and food. There was a knock at the door. London answered.

"Cody, what are you doing here?" she said.

"Bailey told me and Zack what happened." Cody said. "And told us why she's so upset about that bracelet."

"Then tell me, because I don't get it."

"She told us the reason why it was so important to her, and it's not because of how it looked."

"What else matters?" London asked confused.

"I was getting to that part." Cody told her. "Remember when she went to Kettlecorn to help her family with something a few weeks ago?" She nodded. "Her grandma was really sick and wanted to see Bailey."

"Why would someone want to see her when they're sick?" London asked. Cody gave her a look. "Sorry. Continue."

"She died two days after Bailey came. She knew she was going to die, so, before she did, she gave Bailey that bracelet. She wanted her granddaughter to remember about her." London looked at him shocked.

"Wow." was all she could say. She couldn't believe that she's been that selfish. _Of course it wasn't about the money!_ She's been a bad friend. She should have asked Bailey if she wants to keep it or not. Or she should have left the bracelet alone, since it wasn't hers. "What am I going to do?" _I can't do anything to get it back._

"Well, you can't get the bracelet back." Cody said, as if reading her mind. "But you can try to make up for it."

"How?" she asked. Then, and idea popped up in her head. "I can make her another one." Then, she thought about it. "But I don't know how to make it."

"I'll help you." Cody told her. "You can come to my cabin."

They went to Cody's cabin and started making a new bracelet. Cody showed her how to do it, and she managed to do something. However, since she didn't make anything by herself before, it took her some good hours.

"Oh my gosh, it's so late! What if somebody catches me coming out of your cabin?" London asked.

"Well, I guess you can sleep here, since Woody's away for Holidays."

"Thanks, you're the best!" she said as she hugged him.

Bailey woke up in the morning, and saw that the other bed was empty. _London never wakes up before me. That's weird._ She dressed up and, taking some presents, she got out of the cabin. She couldn't find London anywhere and she started to get really worried. Zack saw her.

"Hey Bailey." he greeted her.

"Hey Zack, Merry Christmas!" She gave him a gift. He opened it. It was a video game.

"Oh my gosh, I've been wanting this for months!" he shouted with excitement. "Merry Christmas to you too, I've got something for you in my cabin too."

"You can give it to me later."

"Are you still upset?"

"Well, yeah..." Bailey admitted. "But now I'm more worried. London wasn't in the cabin last night and I can't find her anywhere. Do you think she wanted to get away from me?"

"Oh c'mon. I'm pretty sure she didn't do something stupid...like jumping overboard or something."

"Don't even say that! Now I'm almost sorry for yesterday." _Almost!_

"Oh, look, there she is!" Zack said. London and Cody got to them.

"Hey, Bailey." Cody greeted. "Merry Christmas! I got a present for you."

"Me too." she said smiling. They gave each other a present. Cody gave Zack a look and the two of them left.

"Bailey." London started. She was really sorry about what she did, now that she knew the bracelet story.

"Where were you last night?" Bailey simply said.

"I slept in Cody's cabin." she answered. Bailey stared at her, a little surprised. "It's not what you think!" London quickly said. "He helped me make you a new bracelet. He told me about your grandma and what it meant to you and..."

"Wait. Did you just say that you _made_ me a bracelet?"

"Well...yeah. To make up for the other one. Even if I know it is not going to replace it." she sighed it. "Bailey, I'm so sorry. I know I should have asked you if you wanted to keep it or not. I was a bad friend." She gave her the new bracelet. Bailey took it and looked at it. It didn't look exactly good, but she smiled. She put it on her hand.

"You weren't a bad friend." Bailey said. "What you did wasn't good, but you did what you could to make up for it. And that's what matters."

"So you're not upset because you don't have anything left from your grandma anymore?"

"Of course I am. But I'll always have her in my heart. And this new bracelet will be kept as a good memory. The gift of a friend." she smiled. "By the way, I've got a present for you." She took it and opened it. It was a sparkly lipstick. And matching nail polish. London wanted to get those before, but she was in a hurry, so she couldn't. But Bailey got them for her before, and she kept them for now. The two girls hugged. "Merry Christmas, London."

"Merry Christmas, Bailey."

**The End**


	10. Elianna22 I

**Holiday Shopping**

**By Elianna22**

"See you at four, Dominic," London said over her shoulder as she stepped out of the limo at the main entrance to Copley Place, the most upscale mall in downtown Boston.

"One moment, Miss Tipton." Dominic unrolled a tinted glass window and London paused, bouncing on the balls of her Christian Louboutin pumps while Chelsea Brimmer, Tiffany Bouvier St. John, and Maddie Fitzpatrick filed past her. What did Dominic want now?

"I just got a call from your father," said the chauffeur in a tone that made London grit her teeth. "Don't forget to get a Christmas present for Melinda."

"Uh huh, whatever," London grumbled. Without waiting to hear further instructions, she pushed her way past a crowd of well-heeled December shoppers surging through the doors.

Chelsea, Tiffany, and Maddie were waiting for her just inside the foyer, steps from the frozen yogurt stand. Empty calories, London reminded herself, just as Melinda had reminded her when they came here in October, the only time London had met Stepmother #7. As if on cue, the solid gold charm bracelet jangled on her left wrist. A sailboat caught her eye—the newest charm. Which meant Melinda was actually Stepmother #8.

"Anyone want to get frozen yogurt?" Maddie asked, twirling a strand of her ratty blond ponytail, when London walked up to them.

London could hardly stop herself from rolling her eyes. Frozen yogurt was the only thing Maddie could afford in a place like this. Had it been a mistake to invite Maddie on this shopping trip—poor hideously dressed Maddie in her thrift-store coat, knock-off Ugg boots, and that cheap plastic purse hanging over her shoulder?

Too early to tell.

"No frozen yogurt," London said. "We're going to Arturo Vitalli." The exclusive boutique, stocked with creations by London's favourite designer in the universe, was on the second floor.

"Fine, we'll get frozen yogurt later," Tiffany said with a tight-lipped smile.

"Come on, let's go." London marched toward the escalator, trusting Maddie to trail on her heels, and checked behind to make sure Chelsea and Tiffany were following.

They were, walking arm in arm, whispering and giggling to each other like they were reading the gossip pages of _Boston Buzz_.

London's teeth gritted again. Why did she hang out with those two losers? Sure, their fathers all belonged to the same old boys' club, but Daddy could buy Tiffany's daddy and sell him in a garage sale. And Chelsea's daddy he could buy and just give away for free.

"No way," Tiffany spoke up and London turned to see her clutching her pink cellphone. "Everything Stinks may be doing a surprise show in Cambridge this afternoon. My brother just texted me."

"Cool," said Chelsea in her nasal whine, her face lighting up at the mention of Tiffany's idiot brother.

"_Not_ cool," London corrected her. "Their lead singer is a tacky bottle blonde and their music really does stink."

For a moment Tiffany's wide brown eyes narrowed and it looked like she was going to defend her low-class musical tastes. But then she slipped her phone into the front pocket of her Louis Vuitton purse and pushed her hair behind her ears, letting it fall over her shoulders in its sleek chestnut waves.

London let out a huff and stepped off the escalator. It irked her that Tiffany's hair always looked like a stylist followed her around with a blowdryer and a big fat brush.

The Arturo Vitalli boutique loomed ahead, populated with people who looked like they had stepped from the pages of _Vogue_. With her wallet stuffed with this week's allowance, London could afford at least three outfits. Four, if she bought something at the Gap for Melinda.

The scent of luxury enveloped London as soon as they entered the boutique, a subtle yet powerful blend of cashmere and Parisian perfume and an exclusive essence that London felt sure only the truly wealthy could recognize. It made her feel instantly at home. Her shoulder muscles untensed, soothed by the racks of cutting-edge fashions from the winter collection.

What she needed were gowns—and lots of them—for the holiday gala circuit and the annual Tipton holiday party on Saturday, but she decided to start with a sparkly aquamarine sweater, aquamarine being _the_ colour for winter. Tiffany picked out a silver tunic dress and Chelsea chose an almost identical dress in a dark green. Only Maddie hung back, glancing at a couple of racks as though she were afraid to touch Arturo's masterpieces. There was nothing in her price range, of course.

Inside the change room stall, London untied her fuschia wrap top, wriggled into the sweater, and stepped back to scrutinize her reflection. The sweater hugged what Melinda had disparagingly called her curves, and the scoop neck showed the tip of her cleavage in a way that was sensual but not trashy. Arturo did not "do" trashy.

Smoothing her extensions, London sucked in a breath to hide any hint of muffin top around the waist of her black Capri pants, from Arturo's ground-breaking boat couture collection. She gave herself a grin. There, she was ready to be admired. Were her talking mirror here, he would certainly agree.

She cleared her throat as sashayed out. "You like?"

Tiffany and Chelsea were already posed in their dresses while Maddie looked on, a longing expression in her eyes.

"I like," she said immediately.

Chelsea and Tiffany exchanged glances, and when neither of them said anything, London switched her attention to Chelsea. "That looks like a sack on you," she said. "I don't think you can pull it off."

That was all it took for Chelsea's face to droop—as though London had actually insulted her—and London felt a pang of satisfaction.

"Here, try this." Tiffany pulled another silver tunic off the returns rack and held it against Chelsea's petite frame. "You just need a smaller size."

"Thanks, Tiffany," said Chelsea, turning from side to side. "I love it."

"Yeah, you should try it on," Maddie chimed in, her eyes on Chelsea.

Chelsea flashed a triumphant smile and flounced into her stall. Tiffany went into hers, so London did the same.

This time her reflection was not so encouraging. Just as her image consultant had pronounced, aquamarine gave her complexion a creamy glow and made her cheekbones seem even higher, but the sweater itself seemed to be bunching under her armpits and the hem had ridden up to the waistband of her capris. And yet she had chosen a size 4.

Squeezing her eyes shut, London yanked the sweater over her head and dumped it on the hook, then covered herself up in her wrap top.

When she stepped out of the stall, she saw only the store clerk rifling through the returns rack. London's feet stopped moving and she gazed around, blinking.

Where were they? Where were Maddie, Chelsea, and Tiffany?

"Did you find anything you like?" asked the clerk blandly.

"No, everything is hideous," London mumbled and kept scanning for her friends. Where had they gone?

"Guys?" she called out. "Maddie? Chelsea?"

A few seconds later, Maddie hurried into view, tugging on the end of her ponytail.

"Where are Chelsea and Tiffany?" London blustered.

Maddie's shoulders lifted in a small shrug. "They went to Cambridge," she said, more to her Uggs than to London. "Everything Stinks showed up. Tiffany's brother texted her."

All the oxygen expelled from London's lungs, like air bursting from a balloon. "They didn't wait for me?" she asked, unable to keep her voice from rising at the end.

They had _left_ her? _They_ had left _her_?

Maddie shrugged again. "They thought you wouldn't want to go."

"Oh." What else could London say?

Maddie offered a smile. "Want to go get some frozen yogurt?"

London's heart jumped back up into her chest. "Yeah, let's go," she said. "And then…" London visualized the bills in her wallet, recalling how she'd heard Maddie asking Carey Martin if she could borrow a dress for Saturday,"…and then, we'll come back here and get you a dress for the Tipton holiday party." She slipped her arm through Maddie's. "My treat."

At this Maddie beamed. "Awww," she squealed, her blue eyes sparkling. "Thanks, London!"

**A/N: Tiffany was played by Alexa Nikolas in the SLOZAC episode "Miniature Golf" and Chelsea was played by Brittany Curran. Thank you for reading, and good luck with any gift shopping you have left!**


	11. Silverturtle I

**THE GIFT OF GIVING**

**By SilverTurtle**

Bailey knocked gently at the door to quarters she'd only visited once before. She was nervous. She hadn't been down here in months and she wasn't sure the cabin's occupant would appreciate the intrusion, no matter that her intentions were good.

"Come in," a muffled voice called through the door.

Cautiously, Bailey turned the knob and poked her head around the bulk of the door to peer inside. "Miss Tutweiller?"

"Bailey," Miss Tutweiller said as she caught sight of her student half-way through her door and waved her in, "Come in! What can I do for you?"

Bailey stepped fully into the room and closed the door before any of Miss Tutweiller's cats could escape. She smiled to see Mr. Whiskers happily snoozing on her teacher's lap, obviously taking advantage of the prime nap-time space while Miss Tutweiller took in a book. "I was hoping to speak to you," Bailey started, "Well, actually, to give you this." She handed over an envelope with a golden bow on it.

"What's this?" Miss Tutweiller asked as she took the envelope. "Should I open it now?"

Bailey smiled and nodded, "Please do. It's for you, after all."

Miss Tutweiller gave Bailey a confused little grin before carefully removing the bow and sliding a nail under the flap of the envelope. She pulled out the soft pink paper inside and exclaimed, "Bailey! A coupon for a free mani-pedi at the salon? This must have cost a fortune! What-Why would you give this to me?"

Bailey swallowed nervously and rubbed her hands along her jeans before abruptly taking a seat and facing her teacher. "I wanted to thank you," Bailey began and rushed to continue when Miss Tutweiller looked about to interrupt, "for helping me when I broke up with Cody. You didn't have to spend the day with me the way you did. You didn't have to be so nice. But you were wonderful to me and I wanted to thank you for it. It really did make me feel better playing with your cats, eating ice cream, and just talking about it. And I felt like such a jerk when London and I ran off without you after you'd been so great."

"Bailey," Miss Tutweiller said quietly. She remembered the sharp stabbing hurt that went through her when the girls had left her behind without a second thought. That rejection still stung and brought up other painful memories for her but she'd put that pain behind her, willing to forget it had ever happened. Teachers weren't really supposed to be friends with their students anyway, so what else should she have expected from two teenaged girls? She shook her head wonderingly, "That was months ago. Why bring it up again now?"

Bailey looked down a little bashfully, one foot reaching out to lightly kick a cat toy across the floor and sending three cats scurrying after it, "Well, I didn't have enough money at the time to make it up to you but I've been saving my allowance and finally had enough to get that for you. And since it's the season of giving I thought there really couldn't be a better time."

Miss Tutweiller smiled tremulously and willed herself not to cry at the gesture. When she felt she had her emotions under control she spoke, "You didn't have to do this, Bailey, but thank you. It's very sweet."

Bailey grinned up at her teacher, "You're welcome. Oh!" she patted her pockets and reached into an inner one in her jacket and pulled out a packet to hand over, "I also had my mom send this to me."

Miss Tutweiller opened the packet and dumped its contents onto the cushion between them. Out of the bag fell a feline sized cowboy outfit, complete with tiny chaps and gallon hat. "Oh!" Miss Tutweiller laughed, "This is perfect!" She immediately snatched up the hat and fitted it over Mr. Whiskers' head. The cat merely looked at his owner and her guest with a particularly catlike expression of disdain but he didn't leave Miss Tutweiller's lap, he yawned and sat up a little farther knowing what to expect when the outfits came out. Miss Tutweiller clapped, "He's so cute! Thank you, Bailey."

"You're welcome," Bailey smiled. She hesitantly stood and said, "I should probably go."

Miss Tutweiller looked up at her now standing student and said, "Are you sure? You could help me get Mr. Whiskers here into the rest of this outfit and we could have another tea-party if you wanted..."

Bailey grinned, "That actually sounds like a lot of fun." She sat down again and picked up the vest, "Hey, it's got a sheriff's star on it!"

"Really?" Miss Tutweiller picked up another piece of the outfit, "Cow-print chaps," she shook her head before laughing, "With mini spurs! These are adorable."

Bailey watched as Miss Tutweiller finagled her cat's limbs into the appropriate pieces and couldn't stop grinning. "Miss Tutweiller?"

Miss Tutweiller looked up from her rag-doll imitating cat with more joy easily readable on her face than Bailey had ever seen before, "Yes Bailey?"

"Merry Christmas."

Miss Tutweiller smiled widely, "Merry Christmas, Bailey."

**THE END**

*****'*****

**A/N:** _Happy Holidays everyone. _


	12. Tiger002 I

**A/N:** Wow, this story turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be, but I really enjoyed writing this. It was a challenge digging deeper into characters here, trying to figure out what truly makes them tick. I even manged to bring out some of my own memories and see how some events in the past have changed me as well. Also, do to the length of this, I'm going to be adding several intermissions, which will be good places to take a break if you want, and then use ctr+f to find the one you left off on. This story was betaed by WoundedHearts.

This is a song fic to Justin Bieber's song, "Down to Earth" _Italics _are lyrics and **bold** are dates. Yes, a fan of rock and metal music is using a JB song.

**Broken Promises and Mended Hearts, by Tiger002**

**December 23 2001**

_I never thought that it'd be easy,  
Cause we're both so distant now,  
And the walls are closing in on us and we're wondering how,_

A gentle winter's storm was falling upon the quaint city of New Haven, located about 30 miles north of Boston while two 10-year-old twins stood on the deck of their apartment watching the angel's sugar coat the roads below. A cool breeze blew snow off the railings into the younger twin's face, getting some of the freezing water through the cracks in the coat, causing him to dance around anxiously trying to get it out, but to no avail.

"What's wrong Cody?" his older brother asked.

"It's cold," he responded, giving up as much of the snow had melted.

"You know what's worse?"

"What?"

"Having someone pour snow down your shirt."

Before Cody could react to what Zack said, the older twin grabbed a large handful of snow and ran at his brother. Cody tried running to the door to get to the safety of the house and their mom, but Zack was too close and he quickly latched onto his brother with his free arm and poured the snow down Cody's back.

"Boys, time for dinner," Carey called from the kitchen before Cody to could properly retaliate.

"What's for dinner Mom?" Zack asked eagerly as he hung up his coat, careful not to make the tears in it any worse.

"Spaghetti," Carey replied as she brought the pot over to the table and got the toast out of the oven. They had been having that a lot recently as it was something simple to cook, also cheap, and both the twins enjoyed it.

"Okay you two be good," Carey said as she grabbed her car keys and went for the door.

"You're not eating with us again?" Cody asked pleadingly.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I have to work again tonight."

"That's okay Cody, we can still have fun together and then Dad will get here tomorrow."

Carey bit her lip not wanting to tell her kids about the call she had received that morning. She was hoping she could keep the news from them until they were ready, though in a situation like this, she knew that time would never come. "Dad…won't be coming," she finally announced.

"Huh?" Cody asked, looking up at his mom, sure he had misheard her.

"Dad won't be coming," Carey repeated, seeing her son's pure innocent eyes glance down, a liquid sheen forming around them and bound to break loose at any moment. "There was too much snow for the plane to make it," Carey explained, hoping her son would see the logic in the situation and that would hold his heart together before it fell apart.

"But the snow isn't that bad," Zack said with a shrug of his shoulders looking out as the flakes gently drifted down from the sky. "Especially for something as big as a huge airplane."

Carey sighed not sure of how to respond to something like this. She didn't have the time nor energy to explain to her sons that it wasn't the snow here, but in Chicago, and that just because a plane was big didn't mean snow couldn't stop it.

"So Dad's not coming?" Cody asked breaking Carey out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry sweetie," Carey ran her hand through her son's hair trying to comfort him, but to no avail. "Will you be okay while I go to work?"

"Okay," he said, trying to force a smile despite the sorrow building in him. He knew his mom had to work a lot and that he had to be a big boy without her being home so much. "Don't worry; I'll be fine."

_No one has a solid answer,  
but just walking in the dark,  
And I can see the look on your face,  
it just tears me apart._

A couple hours passed and the twins entertained themselves in their small room of the two bedroom apartment. They were playing one of their favorite games, Super Smash Brothers, and Zack was dominating his brother as always. However, after several matches, Zack noticed that he was winning without any effort.

"What's wrong Cody?"

"What do you mean?" the younger twin said as he switched characters, thinking it might give him a better chance against Zack. He was hoping that he could forget about his Dad's broken promise by immersing himself in this video game, but it wasn't working.

"I know my brother, he sucks at this game, but he at least puts up a fight when we play," Zack said with a no-nonsense tone.

"It's Dad," Cody said, resting his controller on his lap and looking down, an aura of tears covered his eyes and threatened to spill forth at the slightest provocation. The boy didn't want to cry in front of his big brother, he wanted to be tough like Zack, to be strong.

He wasn't though.

Zack looked to his twin, the dark sky filtering in through the window along with the multicolored Christmas lights strewn along the skyline. He didn't know what to say at a time like this; helping Cody when he was sad was a mom or a dad's job. He just didn't have a solid answer and that tore him apart.

_So we fight, (so we fight)  
Through the hurt, (through the hurt)  
And we cry and cry and cry and cry,  
And we live, (and we live)  
And we learn, (and we learn)  
And we try and try and try and try!_

"Cody," Zack said, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder, wishing he could just take his brother's pain away with a few simple words. The older boy sighed, hoping that those words would come to him, but they didn't, so he just went along with his jumbled up thoughts. "Don't be sad." He knew that was ridicules, he was devastated that his dad wasn't coming to see him, but Cody didn't need to know that.

"Why not?" Cody asked, gently placing his controller on the floor.

"Because Dad wouldn't want you to be sad just because he's not here." That sounded like something his mom would say, right?

However, Cody's expression remained unchanged.

Cody climbed into his bed, curled up in a ball by pulling his legs in and began to cry.

Zack looked on, powerless and defeated. His lip began quivering and soon he felt the tears building in his own eyes that he felt would soon flow like Cody's. He blinked, willing himself not to succumb to the same despair that was overtaking his brother. He needed to be strong for Cody; that was his job as the big brother.

_So it's up to you, (oh)  
And it's up to me, (yeah)  
And we meet in the middle, on our way back down to earth,  
Down to earth, down to earth, down to earth_

Zack walked over to Cody's bed and got on as well. He wrapped his arms around his brother, telling him he was there for him, even though he didn't have the words for him or any idea of what he should do in a time like this. Cody wrapped his arms around his brother, allowing his tears to run down his cheek and onto Zack's shoulder. The older twin gently patted his brother on the back "It's okay Cody. I won't leave you."

Through the pain and despair he was in, Cody felt a slight comfort that his brother was here for him. It didn't change the fact that his dad was half way across the country or the fact that his mom was always at work or too tired because of work to spend much time with him, but it was something.

Minutes passed, one after another, the twins ignorant to the continuous turning of the hands on the clock. They weren't sure when it happened, but they both found themselves succumbing to the gentleness of sleep, comforted by their brother beside them, knowing that no matter what, that wouldn't change. Their game continued to play in the background, waiting for them to pick up the controllers once again, though that would have to wait for morning.

**Intermission 1**

**December 24th 8:00AM**

_On our way back down to earth,  
Back down to earth._

Cody slightly stirred, feeling resistance from some object close to him that he knew normally wasn't there. He opened his eyes, sleep still clouding much of his vision so he couldn't figure out where he was. He noticed that he wasn't under the covers, yet there was a blanket sitting over him, and he was still wearing the same sweater from yesterday. After blinking a couple times, he turned to his side and saw his brother learning against him, Zack's arm still partly wrapped around his body.

Seeing Zack beside him, reminded the young boy of the previous night. They were playing video games and he was losing as always, and then he started to feel really sad about Dad not being able to make it for Christmas. He remembered crying, and then Zack trying to help, and then, even though he was still sad, he thought about how Zack made him feel better.

Cody glanced at the clock, seeing that it was already eight in the morning; had Zack really been with him all night? Was he really crying that badly, that he actually cried himself to sleep? What would Zack think of him now, probably that he was just the baby brother who cried whenever anything went wrong.

Shrugging off the thought, Cody got out from under the blanket he recognized as the one form his mom's bed, while still making sure Zack stayed asleep. Then again, it sometimes seemed like Zack could sleep through anything. Cody grabbed some clothes out of his closet and changed, the thought of wearing the same thing for 24 hours disturbed him for some reason. They were probably dirty, and he just didn't like being covered in the same things for too long.

After that, Cody made his way into the small living room wondering if his mom was up yet. He wasn't sure what time she got home from work the night before, but it wasn't uncommon for the twins to have already gone to bed when she got home and for her to be sleeping when they got up, especially when school was on break. The boy glanced down the short hallway, to discover there wasn't any light coming from her room, and then he heard the faint sound of her snoring, which came as no surprise to him.

He contemplated going back to his room and seeing if Zack was up and wanted to play video games with him, but decided his brother would get up when he was ready. Instead, he decided to go get his history textbook out of his backpack and try to read through another chapter so he could figure out what the other kids already knew. With them moving so often, he always seemed to be behind when they went to a new school.

He didn't like that though. Cody wasn't dumb, and he knew it. It was just that he didn't know the answers to the questions everyone else thought were easy. He'd show them that he was as smart as all of them, he just read the book and then he'd be the one to know all the answers. Then his teachers would be proud of him, then Mom would be proud of him, and then when Dad came back, he could show him all his good grades.

That was his plan, and it would work.

However, as he got to his backpack, his stomach began growling. Deciding studying could wait, he put the book down on the kitchen table and walked over to the cabinet to get some cereal. He grabbed a box of the corn flakes and after using the stool, he got a bowl down from the cabinet. One more thing he needed was milk, but when he opened the fridge, he saw it was almost empty. There would be enough for his cereal, but that would it. Zack or Mom might also want some, and it wouldn't be right to finish it himself.

He stared at his food for a second, tilting his head figuring out what to do. He could just take a little milk, but then it tasted yucky. And he wasn't hungry enough to eat yucky food.

Who said he had to have cereal though? Mom had made other things for breakfast before, like eggs and toast, and sometimes things like bacon and sausage too. Who said he couldn't? His little mouth grew into a smile at the infinite possibilities. He opened up the fridge again and glanced around, figuring out what he had to work with.

There were a few eggs left, bread, some ham and turkey from the deli, some cheese, and several cans of pop. Cody realized that pop wasn't good for breakfast so he ignored that and wondered what he could do with the rest. Eggs were a good breakfast food so he grabbed a few of those and set them on the counter. Toast was also good so he got a loaf of bread out as well. That would probably be good, so he grabbed a skillet out of the cabinet and placed it on the stove. After getting a stool, so he could reach far enough, he turned the stove on, careful not to burn himself like Zack had before. Those big bubbly things didn't look like much fun when his brother got them on his hand.

After letting the stove warm up for a couple minutes, he brought the eggs over to it, trying to remember how to open them. There wasn't a top to pull or box to open. This might be harder than he thought. He'd seen his mom tap them on the edge of the skillet before so maybe that's what he was supposed to do.

He tried it, but it just made a small crack, not enough to get the insides out. He tried again, this time with more force, but it was too much and the egg goop splashed out on his hand and the stove and everywhere.

Cody jumped back in surprise, running to the sink to wash the egg stuff off his hand before returning to the stove. Sad at the mess he made, he got several paper towels and began cleaning it up. However, he forgot the stove was still on, and found the towel started to get really warm. When he released what he did, he ran the towel to the sink and turned on the cold water, thankful to avoid a disaster.

Cody walked back over to the eggs, determination filling his gazed as he starred at the little white objects. He was going to give this one more try, and wouldn't make a mess. He just had to find a good mix of gentleness and toughness as he cracked the egg. Carefully knocking the egg against the side of the pan, he made a small dent in it, bigger than the first time but didn't break it yet. He then carefully gripped the two sides of the egg and pulled it apart, letting the yellow stuff fall into the pan.

He smiled in triumph, figuring out the solution to this problem all by himself. He then went for the remaining two eggs and cracked them the same way, filling the pan with the three eggs. Never again would he be defeated by not knowing how to open an egg.

The eggs were in the pan, and the pan was on the hot stove, so now what was he supposed to do? He looked at the eggs, seeing the three big yellow blobs and he remembered eating them before, but the egg juice would leak out and make a mess, and he didn't like that. There was another way to make them though; he could make scrambled eggs. He wasn't sure exactly how, but he knew it involved mixing them up with something. He got a spoon out of the silverware cabinet, and began mixing the eggs up in the pan.

He paused for a minute, trying to see if the eggs were done yet. They didn't look quite right, so he figured that meant he had to cook them longer. After looking at them, he wondered if there was anything else he could add that would make them better. He jumped to the cabinet that had various powders and spices. His eyes light up upon seeing the black container with Hershey across the label. Hershey meant chocolate, and everyone liked chocolate. He grabbed the container out of the cabinet and rushed over to the eggs, sprinkling a little bit of the black powder on them. After he did that, the eggs looked like they did after Mom had cooked them, so that must mean they were done, he moved them around, trying to spread the yummy Hershey stuff in them before taking the pan off the stove.

He eyed it wearingly wondering if it was actually done after he set the skillet on the counter. The eggs looked right, and the chocolate had melted, so he guessed that was good enough. After turning the stove off, he got on the stool again and stretched as high as he could reach to open the cabinet where the toaster was. As he got it down though, he was shocked by the weight and began learning backwards, but stabilized himself before taking a step back and placing it on the counter.

After taking a deep breath, he approached the surprisingly heavy metal object and put the bread in it. While the metal things turned red, Cody turned back to the eggs, a little afraid that his strange combination wouldn't be any good. The toast popped up out the toaster which gave him an idea. He liked McDonald's breakfast sandwiches, so why couldn't he do the same or perhaps even better?

Cody walked over to the fridge and opened it up again, scanning the contents. He grabbed several slices of cheese, since all sandwiches needed cheese. He also got the ham out since both he and Zack liked that. Putting the toast on the plate, he knew it was time to put all this together and hope it worked. He un-wrapped the cheese and put that down first, allowing the toast to melt it. Then he carefully scooped some eggs onto each piece, trying not to spill much. After that the ham, and the top piece of bread and he finished his sandwiches.

"Perfect!" Cody exclaimed with glee, proud to see his masterpiece.

He took the plates over to the table, shoving his books to the side and imagined how great it would be when he saw both his mom and brother enjoy his tasty breakfast. He wanted to take a bite for himself, but knew that would be rude and he needed to wait. Glancing over at the kitchen counter, he saw the mess that he made so he ran back over there to clean it up, knowing that his mom would be really tired and not want to do it, and Zack would never clean up a mess he wasn't responsible for, and even then, that was rare.

Cody grabbed a couple paper towels, but seeing that the role was running low, tried to get as few as possible and ran some water over them before cleaning up the crumbs that fell among the counter. He then put the skillet in the sink and began washing the egg stuff off of it.

The sound of a door squeaking caught his attention so he turned and saw his mom coming out from her room. He had seen that his mom would sometimes just leave the dishes in the water so they'd be easier to clean so he figured that would be good enough for now, especially now that he had a chance to share his masterpiece with her.

"Mommy, look what I made!" Cody said, excitement filling every fiber of his small body.

"You made breakfast?" Carey asked, noting the food on the table and seeing that there wasn't a fire, so she knew it wasn't Zack's doing.

"Well, I was hungry, and we didn't have enough milk for all of us to have cereal so I thought I'd try making something else," he said slightly worried. He remembered when his dad yelled at Zack for being careless around the stove and burning himself, so he hoped his mom wouldn't be mad.

"You want to wake Zack up so he can join us?" Carey said, a smile beaming across her face showing Cody that she was proud of him, causing a smile to spread across his face as well.

"I'll be right back!" Cody said excitingly rushing off to wake Zack up. He couldn't wait until both his mom and his brother got to try his sandwiches. Mom would be really happy, and then Zack would forget about him crying himself to sleep the night before. He opened the door and flicked the lights on, seeing Zack stir slightly in response. "Hey Zack, breakfast is ready!"

Zack mumbled something incoherent as he stirred, getting his head out of the somehow tangled blankets and stared at his brother, trying to figure out what had happened. However, before he could, his stomach alerted him to the word breakfast, causing him to toss the blanket to the side and jump to the floor. Zack then ran out of the room, nearly losing his balance by going from sleeping to running so quickly, but he wouldn't let that separate him from his food.

"What's there to eat Mom?" Zack asked excitedly.

"Your brother made it; let him tell you."

Cody's heart was racing as he went to explain what he made. "Well, I was hungry and wanted cereal, but we didn't have enough milk for everyone, so I wanted to make something, and since we like eggs, I tried that, but then thought that chocolate was good, so I added a little bit of chocolate, and then thought that sandwiches are good so I made toast, and put some ham and eggs on it." Cody let out a big breath after he sped through that explanation.

Carey tilted her head, suspicious of the idea of eggs and chocolate together, but she knew she had to at least try her son's creation. It was probably better than most of the things she cooked anyway. She sat down and picked up one of the sandwiches and took a bite, the odd sweet addition perplexing her taste buds, but it was pretty good. "Wow, this is really good Cody."

Zack had no qualms about adding chocolate to anything. The only bad thing about that was that it made things unhealthy, but he didn't really know what unhealthy meant, so it must not be too important. He took a small bit of it, it not tasting much different from those McDonalds breakfast sandwiches, which in his mind was the best restaurant ever. He took several more bites, Cody's creativity now reaching his taste buds. He tilted his head, his mind unable to process what his tongue was telling him. It wasn't that this was bad, at least, he didn't think it was. It wasn't what he was expecting. His face contorted though a variety of expressions, not sure of which one was accurate.

Cody picked up on this. Was his breakfast really that bad? He took a bite of his sandwich too, hoping it would be really good. However, after tasting it, he knew that it wasn't right. How stupid could he be, thinking that chocolate should be for breakfast. Chocolate was for desert or for sneaking treats out of the snack cabinet.

"This sucks," Cody said setting his breakfast down.

"Don't say that Cody," Carey said, putting an arm around her son. "It was really good."

"No it wasn't," he said, shaking his head. He knew parents were supposed to lie to them and say things were good even when they weren't.

"It was different, but that doesn't make it bad," she said, trying to respond to her son's capacity for logic. "Right Zack?"

Zack still wasn't sure what to make of this meal. It was edible, and better than some of his mom's failed attempts at cooking, that was for sure. It wasn't right though, his tongue told him that some things weren't supposed to be for breakfast. "I don't like it," he said, shaking his head.

At this, Cody's heart sank. He knew that Zack was honest. Carey had warned him before about being nice and that sometimes being vague was for the best. However, that lesson never stuck with Zack.

"I knew it was a bad idea," a defeated Cody said, his head hanging in shame.

That wasn't the response Carey was hoping for from Zack.

"It's okay, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to," he added after a several second pause.

"Of course we'll eat it," she said, adding as much enthusiasm as she could, "After you worked so hard to make it, why wouldn't we?"

Cody smiled at this as the rest of his family began eating again. However, he knew better than to think that they really liked it. Yet, he pretended that he was happy. He didn't want to be a burden on his mom anymore. He knew there were times where she just wanted to rest or go to work, but he wanted her there with him and Zack. She had told them that she might not be around as often as they wanted because of having to work a lot. He wouldn't be selfish and keep her from her job.

"Thank you so much for breakfast Cody," Carey said after she finished her sandwich.

"You're welcome Mommy."

Carey got up from the table and set the plate in the sink. She turned the water on letting it fill up before leaving the plate there and going to her bedroom to change. She had another long shift ahead of her, but the good news was she would be able to get off early so she could spend Christmas Eve with her kids and then be off Christmas day.

"This really isn't too bad," Zack said once their mom had left the room.

"I know that you're just trying to be nice," Cody said before walking to their room, leaving Zack speechless. He should have known that it would take something more than that to help his brother, but that was all his mind could come up with.

**Intermission 2**

_Mommy, you were always somewhere,  
And Daddy, I live out of town,  
So tell me how could I ever be, normal somehow?  
You tell me this is for the best,  
So tell me why am I in tears?  
(Woo) so far away and now I just need you here,_

The little boy sat on his bed again, resting his back against the wall and held his head in his hands. He should have known he wouldn't make a good cook, that was something for grown-ups to do, not little kids. Why did he even try? After all, there was a reason adults did all the cooking, they didn't make dumb mistakes like that. He just wanted to do something to make his Mom happy, but that didn't work. Instead, he just made it harder for her because she had to try to make him happy again. It wasn't right; she worked so hard, he needed to be able to take care of himself. Especially with her always gone, he didn't want her to waste what little time she had here comforting him.

Cody's mind wandered through the past few months, thinking about all the times they moved. He thought about the night where it was way past his bedtime, but he couldn't sleep. He got up out of the bed room of their apartment and saw his parents arguing and they looked really mad. They were saying some words that Cody didn't know, and when he asked Carey what they meant several days later, she said they were bad words that shouldn't be used.

Then the next day was really strange. Even though it was a Wednesday, she didn't make them go to school. Instead they packed up all their clothes and other stuff in their mom's van and were told they were going to go to Grandma's house for a while. Cody tried to ask his mom several times why they were going all of a sudden, but she just said that she'd talk to them about it later, and that they might be there for a while. Zack didn't complain much, though he was kind of mad to be missing his friends at school, but he pushed that thought to the side and was instead just glad to get to see his Grandparents.

It was that night that the twins learned what 'divorce' meant.

It was late at night and the twins were dressed in their pajamas ready to go to bed in the guest room. However, their mom told them that they needed to have an important talk. Their mom explained that she and their dad wouldn't be living together anymore and it wouldn't be like when he was gone for a few weeks and then would come back. There were a lot of questions from the twins, wondering why it had happened, what it meant, and if they would ever see their dad again. They were told that it would take some time but they'd get used to this new life.

And, they did, eventually.

After about a week they got used to their new home, Carey enrolled her kids in school there. It was in May so they didn't have much of the year to go, but even though it was just for a few weeks, it felt like an eternity. There were new people, new classes, new teachers, and a strange new building that with one wrong turn would take the twins into a never-ending labyrinth. At first it seemed like everyone ignored the two who were randomly added to the class. Everyone already had their friends, there was no need to talk to the new kids who seemed to be content with each other.

Cody hated that school. That was one thing that he didn't miss when they moved to their current apartment near the end of August. He heard his mom talking about wanting to get out on her own again and then soon after that, they were in New Haven at the place they called home for the past few months. By all standards, it seemed like things were normal. Carey found a job, the twins were doing okay in school, and they had a decent enough place to live.

However, for all that good in his life, the little boy knew that things weren't as they should be.

His mom seemed to always be at one of her two jobs or sleeping, and the little free time she had was spent cleaning or just being too tired to do anything. His Dad was across the country. He stared at his map of the United States hanging and counted the various colored states that currently separated them. Last Cody knew, his dad was in Texas, the big block at the bottom of the map. Seven states down and four to the left. And that's where the snow was keeping him.

He heard his mom call out an "I love you" before the door closed behind her and she was off to work again. Cody wished that his mom would have at least come in the room to say good-bye to him, but he knew she was too busy to. After all, that's why he made sure she didn't know how sad he was, so she could go to work and not be late again because of him. At least they would be together for Christmas, which was only a day away.

More than the presents he would get the next day, Cody was mostly happy that his mom was going to be home all day with them. It had been a long time since they'd all been together for a full day. Although, it wouldn't quite be all of them. No, Dad was still far away, in another town, another state, it might as well have been another world.

The young boy pulled his knees up to his chest, feeling like that somehow protected him and began crying again. He wasn't sure why, and he knew it wouldn't do any good, but that didn't do anything to stop his tears. All he could think about was how his mom was always busy and that his dad was out of town. He remembered his mom telling him many times that this would be for the best and that everything would work out, but if this was so, why was he in tears so often?

The door cracked open, and though tear stained eyes he saw his brother standing there.

_So we fight, (so we fight)  
Through the hurt, (through the hurt)  
And we cry and cry and cry and cry,  
And we live, (and we live)  
And we learn, (and we learn)  
And we try and try and try and try_

Zack stared at his brother for a second, seeing how dumb he was. He knew that cooking was really hard, he had managed to make their old microwave explode the last time he tried, and not only had Cody not blown anything up, he managed to make edible food. True, it wasn't the best, but Zack should have told Cody that he did a good job.

"Hey Cody," Zack said, uneasily taking a seat on the end of Cody's bed. "You okay?"

"I guess so," he answered, wiping the tears with his sleeve and willing himself to stop crying. He didn't want to bother Zack anymore. He knew he messed breakfast up, and he didn't want Zack to waste his time comforting a brother who was such a baby that always cried over little things.

Zack sighed, he wanted to do something to make his brother feel better, but he just didn't know what. He couldn't cook like Cody could, and if he tried, he'd probably ruin whatever he tried making. "Want to play video games?" Zack offered.

"Not really," Cody said, burying his face deeper into his jeans.

That wasn't the answer Zack was hoping for. "What about playing out in the snow?"

Cody shook his head. It was already chilly in here and he didn't want to get covered in snow which would make it even worse.

"How about we go down to the lobby and pull pranks on the other guests? I need your help coming up with one they won't catch us for."

Cody lifted his head, giving Zack hope as he pondered this, thinking that it would get his mind off this mess, but he just didn't feel up to it. "No thanks Zack."

That was all the older twin had. He hated seeing his brother so sad, but he was powerless to do anything about it. Hoping something would come to him, he continued trying. He scooted closer, wrapping his arm around his brother trying to give him a reassurance of some kind. "Come on Cody, it's Christmas Eve, let's do something fun." Cody was still unresponsive. "Just think about those presents that we'll get tomorrow, won't those be great?"

"I guess."

Then it hit him, he just had to get Cody a great Christmas present and that would make him happy again. Luckily they were close to a Walmart, and Walmart sold everything. He had some money too because Grandma sent them each ten dollars in a card for Christmas. That would be enough to find something great.

Zack got up from the bed, made his way over to his dresser, snuck the money out of it, and shoved it into his pocket before Cody could see what he was doing.

_So it's up to you,  
And it's up to me,_

"I know you're sad Cody," Zack said sitting back down, not wanting to leave his brother without at least trying one more time to make him happy. Cody nodded slightly in response.

"I don't know when Dad will be here, but I know he'll come one of these days, and remember Mom said she's only working so much until she finds a better job."

"But when?"

"I don't know Codes." Zack knew there was so much that he didn't know. He wanted to promise Cody that everything would be all right and go back to normal with all their family together again. But, he didn't want to break that promise, like Dad had in not being able to come on the most important day of the year. There was one promise he could make he sure would come true. "It doesn't matter though," Zack finally said, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them.

"Why?"

"Because I will make you happy again if they make you sad." Zack gently took a hold of Cody's chin and lifted it so they were staring each other in the eye. "I promise."

Cody wanted to break away not wanting to let his heart latch up to another promise that would fall through, but, he didn't. He had no reason not to believe Zack. They had been through this whole mess together. When their parents split, they had stayed together. When they moved away from their old friends, they stayed together. When they were ignored in the halls of the new school, they stayed together. Cody knew that would continue no matter what happened to them next.

"Thanks Zack."

"Promise me something too."

"What?"

"If I'm ever sad or don't know what to do, I can come to you and you'll make me feel better."

"Okay, I will," Cody said, a small smile spreading across his face. He was still sad, especially because people always felt the need to cheer him up, but now he knew he could help Zack if he ever needed it.

"Come on, let's go watch cartoons."

"Okay," Cody said getting up from the bed. He picked up his blue blanket that his dad had given him when he was little and walked into the other room with Zack, feeling a lot better as he entered the room.

Zack was smiling too. He wasn't sure quite how he did it, but he was glad that Cody wasn't sad anymore. He'd make sure Cody was okay for a little while and then he'd go get Cody the greatest Christmas present ever.

_And we meet in the middle,  
On our way back down to earth,  
Down to earth_

A couple hours passed along with several different shows that neither of the twins remembered as soon as the commercials came on. Although, Zack was paying attention to the commercials, seeing things that Cody would like, and that he was sure Walmart would have. There were so many things that would be awesome, like that new Lego set, or one of those board games, or even that game-cube; he wanted to get them all, but didn't think ten dollars would be enough.

"I'm gonna go now," Zack said as he got up from the couch.

"Where?"

"It's a secret," he answered, hoping that would be enough to satisfy his brother's curiosity.

"Can I come too?"

Zack could tell his brother didn't want to be left alone, but it would ruin the surprise if he came along shopping with him.

"But that would ruin the surprise, and you like surprises, right?"

Cody nodded, not completely buying what Zack was saying.

"I won't be long, I just need to go talk to a friend and then I'll come back, okay?"

"Okay," Cody answered as the next show came on, grabbing his attention enough to forgive Zack for leaving.

Grateful for the distraction of television, Zack grabbed his coat and zipped it up as far as he could along with pulling his hood up and snapping it shut. He even grabbed the gloves, knowing how cold it was and that Walmart was over five buildings down the road. "I'll be back soon Cody." Zack heard a slight chuckle escape Cody's month as he focused on the TV, assuring him that he would be all right.

**Intermission 3**

_On our way back down to earth, (on our way back down to earth)  
Back down to earth_

Zack walked down to the elevator where their neighbor, Miss Sanchez, was also waiting for it.

"Merry Christmas Eve Zack," she said.

"You too," he said as the doors opened and the two of them stepped inside. While he might have physically been in the small space with her, his heart and mind were far away.

"Don't you just love this time of year," she said, in what he thought was too excited of a tone for a grown-up. "We have all the Christmas specials on TV, all the family gatherings and my personal favorite, you can eat like a pig and no one will care."

"I guess," Zack said with a shrug. He liked Miss Sanchez because she gave him and his brother candy from time to time, but he still thought she was a bit weird.

"Someone needs some more Christmas spirit," she said pulling a candy cane out of her purse.

"Oh thanks," he said, eagerly taking the sugary treat.

"Here's one for your brother too."

He took that one and put it in his pocket for later. Maybe that would help cheer Cody up if he was sad again, or he could always just save it for himself. Cody didn't have to know.

The elevator door opened and Zack ran for the door, sure that he would be able to find the perfect gift for Cody.

_Back down to earth_

Zack made his way through the snow and ice covered streets remembering how easy it was to slip. Cody had fallen more than once on their way to the bus, one time he tried grabbing onto his brother's shoulder and dragged him down too. Zack smiled at the memory as he walked, not seeing a patch of ice and his right foot slipped out from under him, causing him to reach out for a luckily nearby light pole to steady himself. 'That was close,' he thought continuing on his way, seeing the largest store ever only one street crossing away.

He stepped up to the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. He waited, and waited, and waited some more, for what had to be at least 15 seconds, when it finally changed. Taking a quick glance to make sure no cars were coming, he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him across the street.

And there he was, the great building stretching off as far as his eye could see, filled with what had to be the perfect gift for his brother. He walked through the lot, keeping an eye out for cars driving by and tried to step over the slush along the ground, not wanting it to get into his shoe.

He walked through the automatic doors and heard a small sound that caught his attention. It was a small whine, and he turned to see a cardboard box with several puppies in it. Above it stood a boy, not much older than him holding a sign saying, 'Free to a good home.'

"Are those yours?" Zack asked, which got one of the dog's attentions.

"Yeah, but Dad doesn't want to keep them, so I'm trying to find someone to take them," the boy explained.

Zack bent down, sticking his hand in the box, which caused one of the puppies to attack it, striking the palm with sharp teeth and a wet tongue. Zack reflexively brought his hand back, causing the dog to bark at him. It wagged its tail eagerly and panted, staring up into Zack's eyes.

"What's his name?"

"That one is Justin."

Zack reached his hand back in the box, trying to pet the dog, though Justin thought the hand was something to attack so responded by wrapping its little paws around the boy's hand. Zack pushed the dog off his hand, causing Justin to fall on his back, but he quickly got up, more excited than ever to play with this person.

"He likes you," the boy said.

"I like him too," Zack responded. At this, an idea struck Zack. Maybe the only present he needed was right in front of him. Already, the animal had brought him so much happiness, that it would be the perfect thing to cheer Cody up.

"Maybe you should ask your parents if you could adopt him."

The boy's suggestion both made Zack's heart soar and shatter into a million pieces. On one hand, he was being offered the perfect gift to make his brother happy, but on the other, his mom wasn't anywhere near here, and he was sure she'd say no.

"I'll go get her," Zack lied as he ran into the store, needing time to think of a plan. He needed to find a way to get Cody that dog, but he had no idea how. He could wait until Carey got off work and ask her, though he had a feeling she'd say no, and with a dog that great, he was sure that it would be too late by then. Maybe he could get someone to pretend to be his mom or dad, and they could help him get the puppy. Though, he was always told not to talk to strangers, and that lying was bad so he didn't think these people would be willing to help him. He thought about trying to find Miss Sanchez, she wasn't a stranger, and he might be able to convince her to help because it was in the Christmas spirit or something. That might work.

As Zack made his way back through the aisles of the store, he caught sight of the pet care aisle and figured the puppy would need something to eat. He grabbed a box of dog treats and a small rope toy figuring that would last the puppy a little while. After paying for those, he made his way out of the store.

"Hey Zack!" the boy with the dogs called, causing him to run over to see them. "You able to talk to your parents?"

"Not yet." That was true.

"Well you better hurry, two other puppies have been taken so Justin might not be here long."

Oh no, this could be bad. He had to find Miss Sanchez fast and hope his plan worked.

"Um, okay," Zack said hesitantly, not sure what to say at a time like this.

"Hold on, I think my dad is calling me," the boy said walking a few feet away and talking to someone Zack couldn't see.

"Hey Justin," Zack said, petting the puppy again which obviously remembered him. The dog stared at Zack, giving the elder twin an idea. The boy was distracted with his dad, and there were still several puppies in the box. He could just take Justin and run, and then have Cody's present. However, at this, he felt a strange sensation in him that told him that was a bad idea. Thinking about it for a brief second, he knew it was wrong. Although, the boy said that he thought he should take Justin, and once he saw how happy the puppy would make Cody, Carey would have to say yes. He would ask his mom, just not yet, and the boy did tell him to hurry, so it wasn't completely wrong? Right?

Zack took a quick glance to make sure the boy was still distracted and reached down and picked up the puppy, who responded by wagging his little tail even more. "Come on Justin, you're going to make Cody so happy."

_Back down to earth_

After getting what he hoped was a safe distance from the store, Zack slid the puppy into his coat to keep him warm, though he made sure there was a hole in the zipper so he could see. He then took off through the sidewalks, hoping to get home and then find a place to hide Justin until he could surprise his brother on Christmas morning. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.

"Almost there Justin," he said as he approached the front of the apartment complex. He couldn't believe how fast he flew through the streets and didn't even come close to slipping at all. He opened the door, welcoming the blast of warm air that rejuvenated his body, and more importantly, Justin's little body. He was so small, so couldn't have liked the cold much.

As Zack walked into the elevator he caught sight of a sign that made his heart sink. _'Restrictions of pets in the complex.'_

He should have thought about that before, since they lived in a place like this, they might not allow dogs. Zack briefly glanced down at the dog in his coat, before nervously drawing his attention back to the sign. He slowly read each point, seeing if there was anything that wouldn't allow him to keep Justin, and if there was, if he could find a way around that.

'_Rule 1: No elephants or animals that cannot fit through the doors.'_

Okay, he was good on that one.

'_Rule 2: Penguins are strictly forbidden.'_

That seemed like an odd rule.

'_Rule 2a: Killer penguins are an exception to rule 2.'_

Zack tilted his head, trying to make sense of that last rule, but shrugged it off for now, knowing that it didn't affect him or Justin at the moment.

'_Rule 3: Dogs are allowed as long as they are less than 50 pounds and do not disrupt the other tenants.'_

Zack wasn't exactly sure how much Justin weighed, but he was sure it was less than fifty pounds. "You won't disrupt the other tenants, will you?" Zack asked.

Justin made a noise that Zack assumed was one of reassurance, so he it looked like he would be in the clear. With that worry past him, Zack made his way to the elevator which opened right as he got there.

He stepped in and pressed the four to take him back to his room, but just as the doors went to close, he heard Miss Sanchez calling and rushing to the elevator. He stepped to the side hoping she didn't see him. He didn't want to let anyone else know about his dog until Cody saw him tomorrow morning. However, she was faster than he thought and made it to the elevator just in time to stop it from closing. Zack zipped his coat up the rest of the way, hiding Justin and the bag from her, hoping that they could just have a nice quiet ride up to their floor.

He then remembered who he was riding with.

"Whew, it sure is cold out there, isn't it Zack?"

"I guess so," he responded, shifting Justin inside his coat hoping to make the lump less evident.

"I can't believe I thought it would be fun moving here from California. I mean there, we never got snow. Cold was fifty degrees, but that would be a heat wave here. I'm pretty sure my hairspray froze solid."

Justin responded to that with a small bark.

"Was that you?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, I was practicing my dog impression," Zack said as he tried to come up with a better lie.

"Wow, that was really realistic."

"What was Christmas like in California?" Zack asked, sure that would take his neighbor off the current subject.

"Oh, it was wonderful, so many great memories there." His plan worked. "I remember when I was just a little girl when my mom and sister and I moved to our new house. It was a palace, three bedrooms, two baths, we all had our own room, and it was awesome. I remember that Christmas Eve, I didn't expect much for Christmas, already having the best present possible in my new home, but there were still a few gifts, which I might have peaked at a few times. I became really good at rewrapping presents," she said with a chuckle. "We spent Christmas Eve in our pajamas, drinking hot cocoa, playing board games and watching Christmas specials. Santa got an extra helping of chocolate chip cookies that year because in the end we didn't have much, but we had each other and I guess that's all you can ask for."

Zack smiled, seeing why Miss Sanchez liked Christmas so much. It wasn't that she received all kinds of extravagant gifts or anything, but it was because she had something much more valuable. Having his family together and happy, that's what Zack truly wanted for Christmas. He could do without any new toys or games, if he could just have that one thing. And he hoped the dog in his coat could help make that happen.

The door opened and Zack burst out of the elevator, waving bye to Miss Sanchez with one hand and keeping his dog safe with his other. All he had to do now was find a place to hide Justin until tomorrow morning. He had a couple old shoe boxes in his closet that could work. He just hoped that Justin would be quiet until then. He'd throw in a couple of the treats and the toy to keep him occupied. He rounded the corner to his apartment slid the key in the door and stepped inside.

"Hey Zack," his mom said.

There went that perfect plan…

"Hi Mom, what are you doing home so early?" he asked trying to figure out where he could hide Justin before she figured out what he was doing. _'Please don't bark.'_

"My boss was nice enough to let me go home early because we weren't busy." He could swear that he sensed a little bit of sadness in her voice, but right now, he had more important things to worry about. His eyes darted around the room, especially the kitchen. The fridge was too cold, the cabinets had too many things for Justin to knock over. The microwave! "I'm thirsty," Zack said, using that as an excuse to run over to the kitchen. He grabbed a cup, turned the knob and let it fill up while as stealthy as possible opened the microwave, pulled Justin out of his coat and put him in the cooking appliance. He knew this could go badly, but really couldn't think of a better option.

After chugging the water, he set the cup aside and went to see how his brother was doing. He opened the bedroom door to see Cody occupying himself with their Nintendo. Zack breathed a sigh of relief seeing that his brother at least appeared to be happier. "How are you doing?" Zack asked taking a seat beside his brother on the bed and discreetly slipping the bag under the bed.

"This stage is really hard," Cody said as he focused his attention on the enemies that were attacking his character.

"Just hit them all at once so they can't damage you," Zack suggested, knowing that was far easier said than done. The game continued Cody doing better than normal, getting through the first ten enemies without much of a problem. "You can do it."

"It's not over yet," Cody said as one of the foes struck him with a damaging combo, but that one was also quickly defeated. The thirty foes had dwindled to only five, but Cody was down to his last life and had already taken a lot of damage. A precise attack dwindled the number of foes to three, but one hit him, sending his character flying off the platform. However, using skillful midair recovering, Cody made it back striking one of the foes with his recovering attack. Another one came after him, but a dodge set him up for the perfect finish, making it only a one on one battle which Cody didn't have a problem winning.

"Great job bro," Zack said while Cody leaned back against the bed, not believing he actually made it this far. There was only one battle left, the final boss.

Sadly, Cody was unable to win that battle, but it was the closest he had ever gotten, and he was sure with another try or two, he could win.

_I felt so far away,  
From where we used to be,  
And now we're standing,  
And where do we go, when there's no road (no road) to get to your heart?  
Let's start over again!_

A couple hours passed and Carey called her sons out of their room, deciding it was time for one of her favorite Christmas traditions. "What's going on Mom?" Cody asked.

"It's time to watch the Grinch," Carey said, loving how it was a movie both she and her sons could enjoy.

"Awesome!" Zack exclaimed. He remembered how sad Cody was when it looked like they might have lost that movie when they moved, but then how happy he was when it had somehow been packed in another box.

Cody grabbed the blue blanket his dad and gotten him several Christmases ago off the couch and spread it out so there would be enough room for both him and Zack. Carey pressed the play button the on the VCR and the classic Dr. Suess voice echoed through the small living room. A few minutes into the movie, Carey heard her sons' stomachs rumbling and realized she was hungry as well. "You guys want some popcorn?"

"Sure," Cody answered.

"I'll go throw a bag in the microwave then," she said as she got up from her seat.

At this, Zack's eyes went wide as saucers remembering who was still in the microwave. "No I'll get it!" Zack said, jumping up from the coach. "That way you can keep watching the movie." He knew that sounded like a lame cover for a lie.

"Um okay," she said, a bit suspicious, but she already had enough things on her mind, so she'd let that one go.

"Zack went over to the shelves and got down a bag of popcorn and then opened the microwave to see Justin sleeping in there, his little head resting on his toy. The boy smiled at the sight as he gently scooped the dog out of there along with his toy and put the popcorn in there. After setting the popcorn for five minutes, he began walking to his room, thankful that his family was laughing too hard at the movie to notice what he was doing.

Justin looked up at him wondering why he was disturbed from his nap and wagged his tail at seeing his owner. Zack really loved this dog, even though he had only been around it for a little while.

They slid into the twins' bedroom and Zack swiftly turned on the lights and went to work. He opened up the closet, seeing one of the shoeboxes. He opened it up and put the dog inside, who seemed disappointed by his new cage, but after tossing a treat and the toy in there, Justin didn't seem to mind. "You be a good boy, okay?" Zack said as he slid the lid on top and made sure there were still a couple holes to let air in.

Zack went out of the bedroom just as the popcorn was starting to pop and it didn't look like his family noticed him being gone. He let out a sigh of relief, seeing that his secret was safe and now he could focus on enjoying the movie.

Several moments passed and the popcorn was finished. Luckily Carey had told Zack to stop it at the right time, where they didn't burn any, but still most of them popped. Carey then opened the bag herself, wanting to make sure the steam didn't burn Zack from him opening it hastily, something she was sure he'd do. Zack then returned to the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and took his place next to his brother, where he promptly returned his attention to the movie.

Though all the chaos of the past few months, times like this reminded them of the family they truly had. There was still stress and problems that they would soon need to face, but in this moment, lost in the conflicts of Whoville, those seemed a thousand miles away. Though they had heard the jokes many times before, it was as new to them as the first snowfall of the season.

The hours passed and the movie concluded, the Grinch seeing the error of his ways and embracing the holiday he once hated. It may have been a cheesy story line, but the kids were entranced by it, and Carey found herself lost in the world of make believe as well.

"All right, it's time for bed," Carey said and the two of them got up from the couch, stretching their stiff bodies.

"But I'm not tired yet," Cody said through a yawn, suddenly noticing how sleepy he was.

"Come on Codes, let's go to bed so we can get up early and see all the presents Santa brought us."

Carey looked down, unnoticed by her sons. She knew Santa wouldn't be bringing them a lot this year. She had told them that they might not get much, but hoped they'd enjoy what little she had managed to buy for them.

"You just want to open presents sooner, don't you?" Cody said with a smile.

"Yep." Zack wasn't lying; he did want them to open presents their presents sooner, but not his own as much as Cody's. No. More than anything, he wanted for Cody to open up that shoe box with the dog wrapped inside.

The twins made their way to the room and changed into their pajamas, their minds raced with thoughts of Christmas morn, but they also knew they had to force their bodies to sleep; it would truly be a challenge for the young boys.

_So it's up to you,  
And it's up to me,  
And we meet in the middle, on our way back down to earth,  
Down to earth, (down to earth)  
Down to earth,  
On our way back down to earth,_

Nearly an hour passed and even after much tossing and turning, the boys couldn't bring themselves to fall asleep. With their minds rushing so much, there was no way to be calm enough to sleep. After seeing Cody toss in his bed one more time, Zack started talking to alleviate himself from the boredom of waiting. "Still awake Codes?"

"Yeah. You can't sleep either?"

"I'm too excited." Zack thought about the shoebox under his bed and the puppy in it that he figured was having a much easier time of sleeping than he was. "You too?"

"Kind of. I'm also thinking about Dad too."

"I almost forgot about that," Zack said in a softer tone, not wanting to remember the broken promises.

"You think, maybe, he will still find a way to make it?" Cody knew how foolish he was being for even considering that possibility. Mom had told him that the snow was too bad for him to come. Even so, he still held out a small shred of hope, thinking that maybe he had been able to find a plane that could make it, that he'd be here on Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve. It wasn't likely, no not at all, but Cody thought there could still be a chance of that happening.

Zack wasn't sure quite what to say. He wanted to fuel his brother's hope, to say that Dad would be out there when they awoke up in the morning, but knew that the odds weren't good ones and that it would just crush his brother again. Dad had already done that enough with his broken promise, he wasn't going to subject Cody to that again. If, somehow, Dad would be able to make it by the morning, then he'd let Cody be surprised then.

"It doesn't look like it Codes."

Cody let out a silent cry of disappointment, one that Zack instantly picked up on.

"But that doesn't mean we aren't still here. You have me and Mom."

"I guess so."

"And don't forget all those presents we'll be getting. Tomorrow is going to be awesome!"

Cody smiled slightly. Zack was right. Even without Dad, this Christmas would be great. He'd just pretend like it was like any other, that every other Christmas was just him, his brother, and his mom. He'd just forget that Dad wasn't with them. He'd just act like everything was normal, and then maybe, he could enjoy the great day that was coming.

"You're right," Cody said, "I'm getting tired so let's go to sleep."

"Night Cody."

"Night Zack."

Except, Cody wasn't really tired. He just didn't want to force Zack to talk to him if he was tired. He didn't want to admit that his heart was still broken, that he wanted to do nothing but cry. He had done that for a while when his mom was at work and Zack was, wherever it was that he went. It had helped some too, he could just release his emotions without worrying about what everyone else would think. Still, thinking about it again made him want to cry all over again.

Tears began streaming down his face though the soothing sensation of them allowed him to relax, allowing him to drift into sleep, where he was free from the pain.

**Intermission 4**

**December 25**

_I never thought that it'd be easy,_

Christmas day was upon them. Carey got up early and put the cinnamon rolls in the oven for the boys when they woke up. She wasn't going to let this chaotic year stop that tradition. As much as some things changed, some would stay the same, that she would make sure of.

After a while, breakfast had been cooking in the oven long enough for the delicious aroma to fill the house. This lured Zack out of bed as he made his way to the kitchen, noticing the presents sitting under the Christmas tree. There weren't as many as some years, but there were several for both him and Cody. "Making cinnamon rolls?" he asked, memories of their taste already filling his tongue.

"My boys' favorites."

"Awesome." Seeing that they would still take a while longer to cook, Zack made his way over to the pile of presents, seeing if he could figure out what they were before opening. He knew he'd get to see them soon, but that didn't stop his curiosity from demanding answers. There were several boxes, a couple bags, and a few packages covered in wrapping paper. He couldn't understand why some people used boxes and bags to wrap things, it was much more fun to open wrapping paper.

"You want to get your brother up?" Carey asked as she checked on the breakfast, making sure nothing was burning or on fire.

"Cody, wake up, it's Christmas," Zack called into their room, causing his brother to roll out of bed and onto the floor.

"Ouch," Cody said rubbing the arm he landed on.

"You okay?" Zack asked, running to his brother.

"Yeah." He wasn't in too much pain, and it didn't feel like he was bleeding. Zack offered Cody a hand in getting up and after looking at the bruise on his arm, decided it wasn't much to worry about.

"You ready for breakfast and presents?" Zack asked.

"Sure," Cody said, though it was only half hearted.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked.

"Nothing, I was just sleepy," Cody replied, with much more enthusiasm this time.

"Okay, let's go," Zack said, grabbing his brother's arm and dragging him out of their room.

Cody was glad Zack didn't press the issue further. He really didn't want to talk about the dream he had which really got to him.

_Cause we're both so distant now,_

He was back at his old house for Christmas, everyone was there. Mom, Dad, Zack, just as it should be. He and Zack were opening presents, overjoyed at everything they were getting. He didn't remember what those gifts were, it didn't matter. The important part was that his family was together having a good time.

Then it happened.

Everything started disappearing. First the gifts, they just vanished. Then the decorations, the tree, all the Christmas stuff. No one seemed to notice or care, they just went on with their time together, ignoring Cody's cries for answers.

Then things became really strange.

First Dad disappeared, and his family finally began taking notice. Zack and his mom glanced around, but before he knew it, she was gone too.

"Where is everyone?" Cody asked, as he and his brother both were filled with worry.

"I don't know," Zack said, staying close to his brother, worrying that whatever the strange force was would take him next.

"Don't leave me too."

"I'm not going to, I promise." Zack's promise gave Cody hope that they could make it through the strange situation.

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know; just stay with me Cody."

Then a dark wind blew through the room, the walls closing in on them.

"How do we escape?"

"I don't know," Zack admitted.

Soon an earthquake shook the room, knocking the twins over and separating them. Cody looked on, Zack too disappearing over the horizon, leaving the little boy all alone.

_And the walls are closing in on us and we're wondering how?_

Cody tried pushing thoughts of that dream aside once he caught site of those scrumptious sweet rolls being pulled out of the oven. Their perfect fluffiness filled his mouth with saliva and his stomach let out a roar upon seeing the tantalizing streaks of cinnamon. He licked his lips in anticipation as his mom spread the sweet icing on the rolls.

"Hungry?" she asked, to which he eagerly nodded his head.

"There you go Cody." She set the plate on the table causing Cody to immediately sit down and grab his knife and fork to begin eating it. Zack soon joined his brother, though he decided that a knife and fork took too long so he picked up the cinnamon roll and shoved as much of it in his mouth as possible, not worrying about the icing getting all over his face and hands. Soon the twins were on their seconds and Zack even asked for a third, making Carey glad she decided to make two batches.

"Is it time for presents yet?" Zack eagerly asked, the sugar making him even more hyper than normal.

"Um, sure," Carey said finishing off her last bite while Cody's eyes lit up at the mention.

The three of them made their way over to the tree where the presents were stacked. Carey began sliding them out, the ones wrapped in red for Zack and blue for Cody.

"Go ahead Zack."

He didn't need any more encouragement than that to begin tearing through the wrapping paper, leaving it strewn along their living room floor. However, to his disappointment, it was just a heavy red Christmas sweeter. He couldn't play with that, so why did his mom think it would make a good gift? He shrugged though, there always seemed to be a couple presents that he didn't really want, but the rest of them normally made up for that. He set the shirt on the coffee table and waited for Cody to open his first gift.

Unlike Zack who always went after the biggest packages first, Cody grabbed the smallest of his, a little box no bigger than his shoe. He held it for a couple seconds, wondering what could be inside, and then un-wrapped it, leaving the paper in mostly one piece. Opening the cardboard box, he saw a new game for his game boy. He didn't recognize the title, but he looked forward to playing it. "Thanks mom."

"No problem." Truthfully, she wasn't sure if that would be a game he'd like. She just saw it was on sale at the used video game store, and that it had a safe rating, but she hoped she picked out a good one.

After seeing his brother get a video game, Zack was even more excited about what else could lie within the wrapping paper for his other presents. "My turn?" he eagerly asked.

"Go ahead Zack," Carey said with a grin, as he attacked his next present, shredding the paper into a million pieces and letting them fly across the living room floor. A smile raced across his face as the Nintendo game was revealed.

"Oh, wow, this is awesome, the new Star Wars game!" Zack was overjoyed at seeing the gift that he had said he wanted. He had bugged Santa at several of the malls, asking him for it. He found it strange that no matter how many times he told Santa what he wanted, the big man couldn't remember, but at least he did when it counted.

While there were only a couple more presents left under the tree, most of them being things they needed instead of things they really wanted, the twins were happy just to have their new games. However, Zack could tell his brother was still thinking about something, not being as excited as he normally was on Christmas morning.

"It looks like that's everything," Carey said, slightly depressed that she couldn't get anything else for them, though they didn't seem to mind.

"No it isn't," Zack said with a grin that was a mix of mischief and excitement. "There is one more gift that needs to be unwrapped."

"Where?" Cody asked, looking under the tree for something they had missed while Zack walked into his room. Carey said nothing, trying to figure out what her son was doing. Her question was soon answered when she saw her son emerge carrying a shoe back that seemed to have a couple small holes in it.

"Here you go Cody." Zack gently set the box down, grabbing one of the bows on the floor and sticking it on the box.

"What is it?" the younger twin asked curiously, especially when he heard something moving in the box. He picked up the lid and gently pried it open, to see the dog looking up at him. "A puppy," he said in little more than a whisper.

Justin looked around, trying to make sense of his new surroundings and these big people.

"For you Cody, his name is Justin," Zack said, giving his brother the encouragement to reach his hand in the box and gently stroke Justin's fur.

"It's so soft."

Justin wagged his tail in response, always enjoying the attention these people gave him. Cody's face beamed with joy, his smile wider than anything he had shown the past couple days. He couldn't believe it, this little dog, was his.

Cody looked on in wonder as the animal tried to jump out of the shoe box to explore his surroundings but couldn't get high enough. Seeing this, Zack reached in and pulled the puppy out, setting him down on the floor.

"There you go boy."

Seeing his new home, Justin went to work exploring it, starting with the paper all along the ground. It was lumpy, and felt strange, but he liked it, deciding to lay in it and scratch it and bite it. What more could a dog want than to be surrounded by the spoils of Christmas morn?

Forgetting the games he had just received, Cody got up and ran after the dog, getting his attention and then being chased around the room by him. Zack soon joined his brother and his pet, the small animal being surprisingly fast compared to the two boys. With Zack's help, Justin managed to knock Cody down giving him the perfect opportunity to assault his new owner's face with an onslaught of kisses causing Cody to squirm in delight.

This wasn't the Christmas morning he was expecting, no not at all, but he didn't care. Not everything came together as he had wished for, but that didn't mean it was any less fun. He had his brother, his mom, and now his new dog to spend Christmas day with. Sure, he wished his dad could be there too, but why let the one thing he didn't have stop him from enjoying all the things he did?


	13. James Doyle III

**Same Old Lang Syne**

**By**

**James Doyle**

For many years, I'd wanted to get back to Boston for the holiday season. Three semesters into my doctoral program at CalTech, I was finally able to get away, and I looked forward to catching up with friends and family, as well as relaxing and talking about something other than particle physics for a change.

Christmas Eve dinner was at my dad's condo, where we'd gathered with my mom, my brother Zack, and his wife Maya. Little did I know, a series of events was about to be set in motion that would lead to an entirely unexpected reunion.

"Kurt, honey," called Mom as she perused the refrigerator. "Do we have any whipping cream?"

"Zack was supposed to get it," replied Dad, not looking up from the salad he was making.

"Well, obviously he didn't," grumbled Mom as she pulled her head out of the fridge.

"Gee, I can't imagine why," I snarked as I looked over at Zack and Maya, who were lip-locked on the couch.

"Ah, give 'em a break, Cody," urged Dad. "They've been married less than a year. The novelty will wear off soon enough."

"Well, in the meantime, we still need whipping cream," said Mom. "Guess I'll head down to Cheap Charlie's and get some."

"Cheap Charlie's is closed," I noted. "Only thing open on Christmas Eve is the Paul Revere."

"Oh, lovely," lamented Mom. "That means I have to put with Wayne's cheesy pickup lines."

At this point, I knew that Mom would eventually guilt me into going for her, so I decided to save us both the trouble and volunteer.

"No, I'll go," I relented.

"Aw, that's sweet of you, honey," beamed Mom, kissing me on the top of the head, which _almost _made the whole exercise worthwhile.

As it turned out, Mom and Dad needed a few more items, so I ended up waiting a few minutes while they compiled a shopping list. Finally, with money and list in hand, I set out for my former place of employment. When I got there, I found my old boss Wayne Wormser behind the register, holding down the fort solo. He looked like the same old Wayne, minus the sleazy grin (no doubt from having to work Christmas Eve.)

"Welcome to Paul Revere Mini Mart," greeted Wayne with a minimum of enthusiasm. "The savings are...oh, it's just you."

"And a Merry Christmas to you, too," I greeted.

"Here to do some last-minute shopping, I take it," guessed Wayne.

I nodded.

"Heaven forbid you should pay your old buddy Wayne a visit just for the heck of it," grumbled Wayne as he turned his attention back to his lapton. "If you need anything, just holler."

Having been a stock boy at the store, I knew my way around pretty well. As I placed the last few items in on my list in the basket, I noticed that it had begun to snow. Silhouetted against that snow was the face of a fellow customer, an all-too-familiar face I'd not seen in years.

_Met my old lover in the grocery store_

_The snow was falling Christmas Eve_

The attractive sandy brunette standing before me was none other than Bailey Pickett, a girl I'd known from the Seven Seas High program. I'd considered her a friend, and for a time, much more than that. Of all the convenience stores in all the world, I had to run into her at Wayne's place.

For a moment, I contemplated whether I should maybe just leave her be. That probably would've been the least complicated thing for both of us. But anybody who knows me at all knows I rarely, if ever, do the least complicated thing. I thought about how best to get her attention, and eventually decided to circle around the next aisle and approach her from behind.

_I stole behind her in the frozen foods_

_And I touched her on the sleeve_

Trying to be as discreet as possible, I gently tugged on the sleeve of her overcoat. That definitely got her attention, as she turned to face me. To my chagrin, the look on her face wasn't one of pleasant surprise, as I'd hoped, but of indignation.

_She didn't recognize the face at first_

_But then her eyes flew open wide_

"Can I help you?" Bailey asked impatiently.

"Bailey?" I asked, afraid for a moment it wasn't her, after all.

"Yes?" she replied. "Do I know you?"

"Bailey, it's me," I prompted, "Cody Martin."

Bailey looked at me for another moment before she recognized me.

"Oh my gosh!" she cried, her face lighting up as her memory came back to her. "It really is you!"

_She went to hug me and she spilled her purse_

_And we laughed until we cried._

She lunged forward to hug me, causing the contents of her purse to spill all over the floor. We both laughed as we set our baskets down and knelt down to clean up the mess.

_We took her groceries to the checkout stand_

_The food was totaled up and bagged_

_We stood there lost in our embarrassment_

_As the conversation dragged._

"Oh my gosh, how have you been?" asked Bailey as we made our way to the checkout.

"Great, great," I answered. "And you?"

"Not bad," she replied.

"That'll be $10.75," interrupted Wayne as he finished totaling my groceries.

"Oh, where are my manners?" I introduced. "Wayne, this is my old friend Bailey Pickett."

"Yeah, yeah, charmed," dismissed Wayne. "Pay up and get out. I ain't got all night."

"Right," I answered, placing eleven dollars on the belt. "Keep the change."

Wayne scoffed, so Bailey and I decided to leave him to wallow in his misery as we headed for the door.

_We went to have ourselves a drink or two_

_But couldn't find an open bar_

"Do you live close by?" I asked.

"I'm staying at the St. Mark," informed Bailey.

"That's pretty close to where I live," I noted.

"I'd be happy to give you a lift," offered Bailey.

"That's really not necessary," I initially declined.

"I don't mind at all," insisted Bailey.

Relishing the opportunity to catch up, I got into her car, and we drove off.

"You know," mused Bailey, "My husband won't be back until late tonight. Maybe we could have a drink, catch up."

"I'd like that," I accepted, figuring I could shoot my mom a quick text message letting her know what was up.

We stopped at several places. Much to our chagrin, they were all either shut up tight, or closing as we arrived.

_We bought a six-pack at the liquor store_

_And we drank it in her car._

"Guess that's a bust," lamented Bailey.

"Pull up right over there," I instructed as I saw a liquor store that appeared to be open.

A few minutes later, I returned with a six pack of Sam Adams.

"You've got to be kidding," chuckled Bailey.

"I figured we could head up to the Charlestown overlook," I suggested. "Chat somewhere we can actually hear ourselves think._"_

"Um, sure," agreed Bailey.

We arrived safely a few minutes later, thanks to my directions and Bailey's valiant efforts not to wreck her rental car. Once parked, we cracked open a couple of cold ones, and debated what to toast.

_We drank a toast to innocence_

_We drank a toast to now_

_And tried to reach beyond the emptiness_

_But neither one knew how._

"To Seven Seas High," I toasted. "Which was, I'm confident to say, the most interesting time of our lives."

"Here, here," agreed Bailey as we bumped our cans and each took a slug of beer.

"Oh, we were so young and innocent those days," I reminisced.

"Yeah," Bailey replied somberly. "At least we started out that way."

"Oh, Bailey," I apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"No, it's okay," she assured me. "You were my first. No sense pretending it didn't happen. I didn't regret it then, and I don't regret it now."

I wasn't sure I believed her, but I decided it was best to let the matter drop.

"So what are you up to these days?" asked Bailey.

"Oh, right," I answered, shaking off the awkward silence. "I'm a doctoral student in particle physics at CalTech."

Bailey laughed. "Somehow, I'm not surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Oh, nothing bad," assured Bailey. "I just always knew that you'd be doing something amazing with your life."

"And what about you?" I asked.

"Nothing quite so extraordinary," answered Bailey. "I majored in organ performance at the University of Illinois, then I went back to Kettlecorn to be the music director at St. Luke's. Actually, I was in town for one of my classmates' graduate recital."

"Hey, that's nothing to sneeze at," I noted.

I cracked open a second beer, prompting Bailey to do the same.

"To our lives today," toasted Bailey.

"Here, here," I accepted.

_She said she'd married her an architect_

_Who kept her warm and safe and dry_

_She would have liked to say she loved the man_

_But she didn't like to lie._

"So you said you were married?" I inquired.

"Oh, yeah, I am," replied Bailey. "Morris and I reconnected in college."

"Morris?" I asked.

"Oh, right," responded Bailey. "Sorry, you wouldn't have known that he doesn't like to be called 'Moose' anymore."

"I see," I responded, trying to hide my disappointment.

"You don't approve," noted Bailey.

"I didn't say that," I denied.

"I can hear it in your voice," persisted Bailey.

"Hey, as long you're happy with him, it's cool," I declared.

Bailey nodded. "Morris is a great guy. He provides for me and our son, tries his best to encourage me."

"And you love him," I added.

Bailey sighed. "I suppose."

_I said the years had been a friend to her_

_And that her eyes were still as blue_

_But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw_

_Doubt or gratitude._

"He's a lucky man," I said.

"You don't have to say that," said Bailey.

"I mean it," I said sincerely. "You're just as beautiful as the day I first met you."

"I appreciate that," accepted Bailey. "I wish my husband would tell me that more often."

_She said she saw me in the record stores_

_And that I must be doing well_

_I said the audience was heavenly_

_But the traveling was hell._

"You know," noted Bailey, eager to change the subject. "I actually did read your undergrad research article."

"Ah, so you're the one," I jested, making us both laugh.

"Seriously," continued Bailey, "The idea that we might have a working hyperdrive engine within our lifetime is awe-inspiring."

"I'm just glad people are actually taking me seriously," I said.

"I'll bet you're having a blast with your research," speculated Bailey.

"For the most part," I granted. "It's a lot of work, though. I don't get to see my family nearly as much as I'd like."

_We drank a toast to innocence_

_We drank a toast to now_

_And tried to reach beyond the emptiness_

_But neither one knew how._

_We drank a toast to innocence_

_We drank a toast to time_

_Reliving in our eloquence_

_Another 'auld lang syne'..._

"Speaking of whom," segued Bailey. "How's Zack these days?"

"He's great," I reported. "He and Maya are both administrative workers for the Red Sox."

"Maya?" reacted Bailey. "She's still around?"

"They're married," I elaborated.

"You're kidding!" responded Bailey.

"Nope." I assured.

"That's awesome," approved Bailey.

"Yeah, it is," I agreed. "I'm really happy for him."

"Sounds to me like you're a little jealous," surmised Bailey

I nodded. "Guilty, as charged."

"Well, don't fret," assured Bailey. "I'm sure you'll find the right girl."

"I already did," I said. "And I let her slip through my fingers."

_The beer was empty and our tongues were tired_

_And running out of things to say_

_She gave a kiss to me as I got out_

_And I watched her drive away._

"You were the one, Bailey," I continued. "That once-in-a-lifetime-girl that most guys only dream about. I pushed you away because I was just too full of myself."

"Cody, you don't..." began Bailey.

"When I saw you again tonight," I interrupted, "I thought maybe fate had given me a second chance. But now it's too late. And no matter what happens, I'll regret that for the rest of my life."

"I forgave you a long time ago," said Bailey.

"I know," I acknowledged.

"But I guess that doesn't really change anything, does it?" noted Bailey.

"No," I confirmed. "It really doesn't."

Bailey sighed. "I really should get back before Morris misses me."

I nodded. "And my folks are probably about ready to send the cops out after me."

We sat in silence as we drove back to my dad's condo, partly from the fact that Bailey was just a little too buzzed to be safe to drive, but mostly because we'd said everything we had to say. As we pulled up to the building, she took me by the face, and planted a chaste kiss on my lips.

"Take care of yourself, Cody," said Bailey.

"You too," I reciprocated as I got out of the car.

_Just for a moment I was back at school_

_And felt that old familiar pain_

_And as I turned to make my way back home_

_The snow turned into rain_

I stood there in the snow, and watched Bailey drive off. For an instant, I was transported back to the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower, on what should've been the most romantic night of our lives. Instead, it was the night my life, as I knew it, came to end.

"Maybe, we should break up, then," suggested Bailey.

"Maybe we should," I shouted back hastily, my anger and stubbornness having gotten the better of me.

Bailey stood silent for a minute, the tears beginning to run down her face.

"Then it's over," she declared.

I should have gone down on bended knee and begged her not to leave. I should have declared my love for her, and promised to work out our problems together. Instead, I refused to swallow my pride, and gave the following answer:

"Fine," I agreed.

With that, Bailey let loose her tears, and ran away sobbing.

I hadn't cried that night in Paris, much as I'd felt like it. I now knew what had become of those tears, as they were now running down my face this Christmas Eve.

**The End**

Song Credit:

"Same Old Lang Syne"

Written and Performed by Dan Fogelberg

From the album _The Innocent Age _(1981)

_A/N:The song is the true story of an encounter Fogelberg had with his high school sweetheart. I found with some tweaking, it could also apply to Cody and Bailey. Thanks for reading._


	14. Outro Chapter

_**A/N: This is the outro chapter for the collection. Enjoy : )**_

"There. All done," London announced with a smug smile on her face.

She made extra sure to end off her writing drabble with her own exaggeratedly flourished signature while dotting the 'i' in her surname with a drawing of a sparkling diamond.

"It's about time! Are we finally allowed to see your brilliant masterpiece?" Cody demanded grouchily.

"Yessiree! Read it and weep!" London exclaimed proudly.

The Seven Seas Gang were all sitting together on deck chairs around the hot tub on the Sky Deck chilling out under a brilliantly blue sky. London passed her masterpiece around the group so that they could all look over it. Amongst the group of teenagers sat Ms. Tutweiller and Mr. Moseby.

"Anyone feel like reading it out loud?" London asked brightly.

Bailey locked eyes with Cody while biting her bottom lip before they began clearing their throats loudly like they had bad colds. Both Woody and Marcus both pointedly looked away and began whistling awkwardly. Maya began eyeing her fingernails while Zack and Addison looked down at their feet. Ms. Tutweiller and Mr. Moseby looked at one another before he finally relented.

"Alright, I'll do the honours," Marion conceded with as much grace as he could muster.

Woody literally threw the story at Mr. Moseby who smoothed out the wrinkles while scowling disapprovingly at Woody out of the corner of his eye. He cleared his throat and began reading aloud.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful and rich girl named London Tipton. Her Daddy owned hotels all over the world. Because of this, he was always away from home making lots of money. But whenever he came home, he would always bring her lots of presents like jewellery: sparkling white diamonds and big fat red rubies the size of her hand. She liked matching the jewellery with her designer clothing, like her Arturo Vitally halter-neck cocktail dress with matching Jimmy Choo stilettos-"

"Uh, not to be a kill joy here. But I thought this story was supposed to be about Christmas." Bailey interjected swiftly.

"It is about Christmas. Oh give it back, Moseby, I'll read the rest of it," London quipped impatiently.

Marion gratefully handed the story back and London took over with the reading.

"But in spite of loving her all of her fashionable clothing, London Tipton loved the friends she'd made more over the years, especially the ones from the Boston Tipton and Seven Seas Academy. Like Zack and Cody Martin, the identical twins who she could only tell apart when they both got different dorky hair cuts on the S.S. Tipton." London continued on in a sing-song voice.

"Hey! This is a quality hair cut!" Zack retorted indignantly while gesturing to his blonde hair.

"Yeah, well I spent 20 bucks more on mine, which makes my hair cut even more quality." Cody protested in a whiny voice.

"Then there's Maddie Fitzpatrick, the bossy candy counter girl from back home with the bad hair, chicken arms and clothes that she got at Cheap Charlie's. But she also did my homework for me, gave me good advice and was generally nice to me, even when I wasn't nice to her."

"And then there's Bailey Pickett. Even though she's a farm girl and reads way too many subscriptions of 'Tractor Digest', she's also got a really good heart and one of the nicest people I've ever met." London added sincerely.

"Awww, London, that's so sweet." Bailey gushed appreciatively, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"Then there's Woody also. He may have really bad hair and a crazy smile. But I'll always be grateful to him for sometimes helping with my 'Yay Me' web shows on the boat and for pranking Bailey with my 'Boo You' segments." London stated happily.

"Awww, not so sweet, London." Bailey quipped with a plastered smile on her face.

"There's also my good friend, Marcus Little, known to the world as Lil' Little. He's always been nice to me and told me how pretty I am. And he's a good rapper too."

Marcus perked up instantly at this and began popping the collar on his shirt with a smug smile on his face.

"Well, ch-yeah. You know how Lil' Little do," he noted smoothly.

"To Addison and Maya. Thank you for never up-staging me by being prettier and more fashionable." London remarked with a big grin on her face.

"Gee, London. That's so…touching." Maya offered lamely, not knowing what else to say.

Addison simply goggled unabashedly at London.

"To Ms. Tutweiller. You may spend all of your Friday nights in the classroom and have way too many cats. But you're also one of the nicest adults I've ever met, someone who's never called me dumb to my face. So thank you for that," London replied sincerely while locking eyes with her red-haired teacher.

"Awww, London. You're most welcome. You'll always be one of my favourite students on the boat." Emma replied earnestly, flashing a brilliant smile at the young heiress.

"And last, but not least, there's Marion Moseby. We've been through a lot together and you've always done your best to get me not to make fun of other people and keep me from cutting school. You're like a real father to me and I hope I'm like the daughter you never had." London stated meekly before turning to stare at Mr. Moseby.

"You're nothing like the daughter I never had, London. You're much better," Marion replied seriously without blinking.

"Thanks, Moseby." London gushed happily, beaming broadly.

Ms. Tutweiller and Bailey began sobbing a little when Mr. Moseby and London engulfed in a warm embrace that lasted for a few seconds.

"Sometimes, Christmas and New Year's can be lonely for me without my Daddy around. But I'm glad to have all these other people around me for the holidays. People that mean the world to me. People I can call my friends and my…family."

"The end," London concluded seriously while putting the sheaves of paper back down on her lap.

"That was b-b-eautiful, London!" Woody wailed loudly, using Marcus's sleeve to blow his nose on.

Marcus batted Woody's face away and began shrugging out of his jacket at the speed of lightning, a look of utter revulsion on his face.

"London, that was really sweet." Maya replied encouragingly with a wide smile on her face.

"I have to say, London. I didn't think you could pull off writing a Christmas story that wasn't 99.9% about yourself. I'm impressed," Cody praised sincerely.

"And you actually spelt Christmas without the silent 'g' this time." Zack added jovially, giving London a playful nudge.

"Oh darn! I'm still spelling it wrong, right?" Addison complained reprovingly with a shake of her head.

No one knew what to say to that.

"Well, it was truly lovely, London. Ooh, look at the time! Now that New Year's is over and 2011 has finally begun, I've gotta go work on my lesson plans for 2011." Emma announced quickly while getting to her feet.

"And I've got to go greet the new passengers arriving on the boat in 5 minutes. Thank you for the wonderful story, London." Marion replied genuinely while flashing her a quick smile.

"They're gonna start serving lunch soon," Maya added while looking at her watch.

"Ooh! I hope the chef made some more of those tater tots with peas and onions," Woody rejoined eagerly.

The teenagers got up from their chairs and began dusting off their clothes as they prepared to leave, save for London.

"You coming, London?" Bailey asked expectantly of her roommate.

"In a sec, I wanna soak up a little more sun." London replied sweetly.

Zack & Co nodded and began walking off towards the dining hall, their chatter filling the air for a few seconds before they disappeared around a corner together. London caught sight of Holden ordering a drink from the Easy Squeezy. A grin appeared on the rich heiress' face at his fortuitous appearance.

"Holden!" London called out just as the young man was about to walk off.

"Hey, London. What's up?" Holden asked conversationally as he came to stand in front of London's deck chair.

London didn't respond immediately, but reached into the pocket on her designer skinny jeans. She pulled out a roll of green bills and handed it to Holden.

"Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannakauh and Happy New Year's!" she exclaimed brightly.

Holden took the money from her in confusion and began counting a few of the bills. His eyes widened to the size of saucers when he stopped counting after a while.

"London! There's like…$5000 dollars here!" he squeaked in amazement.

"I'll take your word for it, I never count money in public." London replied with a casual shrug.

"You're giving me all this cash just for writing a Christmas story for you?" Holden demanded in awe.

"Not just any Christmas story, a Christmas story that makes me look smart. Plus, you deserve all that cash for writing such a good story." London pointed out smoothly.

"Wow, this is really generous of you. Now I can finally afford to buy that quad bike I've had my eye on for the past year. Thanks, London." Holden replied meekly.

"Don't mention it," London replied winningly.

Holden gave London one last brilliant smile before jogging off towards his cabin, whooping and hollering as he went. London watched him go and shook her head laughingly.

"People really will believe anything you tell them. Or write for them," she mused devilishly.

With a low chuckle from deep within her throat, London began waving an ornamented fan around her face to cool herself down.

_**A/N: A big thank you to James Doyle, DarkElements10, Lady Alice101, CuttieGirll57, Elianna22, Silverturtle, tiger002, TheHurricane13 and Chicas who all made amazing contributions to both the T and M-rated collections this year. Thank you for making us shed a few tears and double over with laughter from all your brilliant stories. And to all the readers and reviewers out there, thank you for reading and giving us all some much needed feedback. Happy 2011, see you all again for 'Strange Love 2011' happening in a few short weeks. Cheerio! **_


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